In Sickness and In Health
by Let Love In
Summary: Marlin and Jill have just begun their new life together, but Marlin's disease becomes overwhelming. Will it become too much for Jill to handle? Set in Another Wonderful Life.
1. In the Depth of Winter

**In Sickness and in Health**

**A/N: Okay, so I decided that I loved Marlin's character so much on Another Wonderful Life, that I want to write a fanfiction about him. So, this is about him struggling with his disease (mentioned in the game), and how it affects his marriage with Jill (main character). I hope you enjoy this first chapter! Let me know what you think.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon.**

I knew something was wrong the moment I woke up. Everything seemed fuzzy around the corners of my eyes; my breathing was irregular. I could feel a cold sweat immediately forming on my forehead. I gripped the sheets of the bed with shaking fists.

"Marlin?"

A harsh tone rang in my ears. I saw Vesta out of the corner of my eye, yet she sounded so distant. I opened my mouth to speak, but it felt like it had been sewn shut. All of my muscles were tensing uncomfortably. I pleaded her with my eyes, trying to signal to her that something was wrong. In an instant, her face grew crazy with panic.

"Marlin? Answer me!" She begged, coming closer to the bed. My breath grew shorter and my arms seemed to lose feeling as a whirring sound rang in my ears.

The fuzziness in the corners of my eyes grew to be a shrouding black that soon encased my vision all together. I was gripping the sheets so hard that my arms violently shook.

"Marlin!"

I could feel her picking me up in her strong arms and I could feel the cold air hitting my face as we emerged outside. But that was all I felt until the blackness completely took me over, leaving me breathless.

--

I opened my eyes to see a huge, silver disk staring back at me. It was Dr. Hardy, with his doctor's headband glaring into my eyes. He smiled sheepishly when he saw me wake.

"Rise and shine, Marlin." He said gruffly. I brought a hand to my cold face and brushed my fingertips over the skin lightly. I could feel again. I was alive.

I sat up, with some difficulty, and looked around. The first thing I saw was her.

Eyes red and puffy, she held a tissue to her face to wipe off the tears that had fallen. From the looks of it, she was trembling. I wanted nothing more than to take her into my arms and tell her that everything was all right, and that I was all right.

If only I could believe that myself.

The hand that wasn't holding the tissue was clenched at her heart, as if she was trying to keep it from bursting out of her chest. I motioned for her to come closer.

She took a timid step forward, and then stopped. As if she was afraid to come closer. I felt a twinge in my chest.

"Come here," I commanded weakly. She took in a deep breath and came right next to my cot, still slightly shaking. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the doctor bow his head and walk outside for a moment.

Her eyes filled with tears. It hurt to see, but I understood why. I snaked my pale arm around her neck and pulled her closer to me so I could kiss her forehead. I saw one of those silvery tears slip down her face, and I brushed it away gently with my thumb. She smiled slightly.

Sitting on the edge of my bed, I could see the deep bags under her eyes. I wondered if she stayed here all night.

"You scared me." She commented, her voice crackling like a raging fire. I nodded sympathetically. "When Vesta told me, I thought you were gone. I don't know what I would have done…"

"Shh. Don't talk like that, please." I pleaded her, lacing my fingers through hers. She looked away.

"I'm sorry."

I sighed. I had told her that this wasn't going to be easy. With the symptoms flaring up more and more as the pollution from the city crept into the small village, nothing was going to be so sure these days.

"Don't be sorry, just don't worry so much. It'll be okay." I told her, although I didn't believe this myself. Typical. Why did I dish out advice I never even followed myself? I felt her begin to tremble again. I brushed her bangs out of her face gently, and reached to give her another kiss. She closed her eyes as I did so.

"I'm just glad you're here." She commented.

"Yeah, me too."

--

_The weather that day had been cloudy. My favorite type of weather. I leaned on the pitchfork I had in my hands and sighed, looking up at the different shades of gray that the skies held. I was utterly alone; Celia and Vesta were still inside, sorting through boxes of different seeds, trying to find the ones they needed to carry to the Inner Inn._

_And that's when I heard footsteps come up from behind me. I turned to greet the potential customer, but instead, I found her. Jill. My heart fluttered around my chest like a butterfly._

"_Hi Marlin," She greeted me in a melodic voice. I grinned._

"_Hello."_

_The blustery wind whipped through her hair and it made me shiver. The clouds above grew darker, and a thunderclap sounded from far away, forewarning us. _

"_Looks like rain," She commented. I nodded thoughtfully, taking in a big gulp of cool air. We stood for a few moments, staring up at the bleary sky. _

"_Marlin?" She asked, averting her gaze back to me. I stared back._

"_Hm?"_

"_I, uh, I have something for you…"_

_She reached behind her to zip her backpack open, and she pulled out something that was bright blue. She held it behind her back protectively._

"_I know I haven't been here long… and I know this may be jumping into things too early, but," She began timidly. She paused for a moment, almost as if to regain composure. "But I don't care."_

_She pulled the blue feather out from behind her back. I stared in awe at the brilliance that radiated off of the feather. The deep blue hues and delicate texture were enough to make anyone gaze in wonder. _

"_I…" I started, not sure exactly what to say. I wanted to scream 'Yes! Yes! I've been waiting for this day!' But… I wasn't about to embarrass myself like that. So I blurted out the only words that seemed to fit._

"_I love you."_

--

I awoke the next morning feeling less than great. My whole body was overwrought, as if I had slept with my muscles tensed. My stomach rumbled, and I figured that I hadn't had too much to eat in the past day or so. I sat up with difficulty and rubbed my eyes, remembering the dream I had last night. Well, it wasn't a dream at all. It was more like a memory that I replayed in my head.

I was engaged to Jill. She proposed in fall, just a month ago. We would be married in a few days. Although at this rate, I'm not sure how well that was going to go. I felt like I had scared her out of commitment with me. Commitment to someone who could drop dead any second.

"Ah, you're awake." Dr. Hardy emerged into the room and smiled oddly. His mechanical eye stared at me and I shuddered.

"How do you feel?"

I shrugged.

"I'm kind of tense. And hungry."

He nodded and grabbed a chart off the desk next to me. Writing a few things down, he set it back on the desk.

"Good. No lightheadedness? No tunnel vision, sporadic breathing, or profuse sweating?"

I winced a little at the symptoms I knew so well.

"No."

The doctor grinned and tightened his white coat around him.

"Good! You're free to go. Make sure you eat a lot when you get back to the farm, although I'm sure that won't be a problem with Vesta as your cook." The man said with a chuckle. I smiled politely and stood. My knees were wobbly, and my muscles hurt when I stood, but other than that I was pretty okay.

I wandered slowly back to the farm in the bitter cold. Winter had hit this town harder than I remember from the past years, and I wrapped my coat around me tighter.

Everyone I passed waved at me warily, almost as if they weren't sure if I was alive, or if I was a zombie back from the dead. Nevertheless, I waved back and kept walking until I was crossing that familiar bridge just a few feet away from the farm. There, I saw Celia toiling through the fields, pulling at a weed on the ground. Vesta was dealing Murrey, who was trying to steal vegetables.

I entered the farm silently, trying not to make a scene, but it was too late. Both of the women were rushing towards me, exclaiming a series of jumbled words. I smiled weakly.

"How are you feeling? Better, I suppose? Oh, dear, we were so worried." Vesta said to me, a large grin on her face. Celia came up behind her timidly.

"I'm glad you're home." She said with a sweet smile, her hands behind her back. I nodded, and felt my stomach rumble once again.

"Oh, you must be starving! Let me make you something." Vesta exclaimed, bursting into the house. I was about to follow her when Celia grabbed my arm with a cold hand.

"I was worried." She commented, looking down at the ground. I squinted my eyes slightly. Celia had a habit of making me feel… uncomfortable. Vesta seemed to force us together when I began working on the farm. And Celia was all for the idea. She spoke sweetly when I was around, and smiled with in a shy demeanor. But truth be told, she just didn't _get _me. She was innocent and much younger than me, and everything about her was so simple.

When she found out about Jill, she didn't back off like a normal woman would. She tried harder.

"I hope you're feeling better." She said quietly, moving her hand to my face. I turned away.

"I am. Thanks."

Pushing open the door to the house, I tried to shake off the feel of her hand on me. The only hands I wanted on me were Jill's.

A heavenly smell wafted into my nostrils. Vesta's famous pumpkin stew. As repulsive as it sounded, it was the perfect dish. Sweet, but not too sweet, and had a marvelous texture. She had tried to teach me how to make it numerous times, but mine never came out as good. I sat down on my bed and pulled at my shoes, which had been practically suffocating my feet. Stretching my arms into the air, I longed for this muscular cramp to end.

"Celia, would you like some pumpkin stew, too?" Vesta asked her. She looked saddened.

"No… I'm going to go to my room." She concluded, stepping up the ladder to her quarters. I let go of a breath I hadn't noticed I had been holding.

After lying down for half an hour, I heard Vesta setting out the plates and forks. Standing with difficulty, I made my way to the table as she scooped stew onto my plate. Thanking her quietly, I dug in. Shoveling mouthfuls, I was done in minutes and wanted seconds.

The rest of the day passed by slower than I could have imagined. When I asked Vesta about work, she instantly had that crinkle above her forehead. She forbade me to work that day, or the next.

But that wasn't what bothered me the most. Jill hadn't yet come to visit. I sat on my bed, reading a book about harvesting, just waiting for that knock on the door. I almost had half the mind to go to her farm myself, but I just didn't have the strength to get up. Tears in my eyes, I fell asleep early, dreaming of that same memory I had dreamt of the night before.

I woke up the next day, realizing that Winter was coming to a close soon. The grass peaked through the snow on the ground, symbolizing Spring to soon come. Meaning, I was getting married in just a few days. I broke out into a sweat just thinking about it.

I stepped out into the cool air and breathed in heavily. It felt good to breath in the fresh crispness of the Winter season. Heck, it just felt good to breath again. I painfully remembered that morning, waking up to that irregular breathing… it made me shudder.

"Marlin," A sweet voice called from behind me. I felt my breath catch in my throat, but when I whirled around, it was only Celia. "Vesta said you shouldn't be working today. You should be resting. I could make you tea, if you'd like…"

"No, Celia. I'm, uh, going into town today. Maybe catch up with Griffin at the bar." I replied coolly, just hoping that she would go away. She shrugged.

"I'll see you later, then."

Hands shoved into my pockets, I left the farm and headed for the village. I passed by Ruby, bustling about her garden, and Van, who had just opened up shop. I politely nodded at them, and pushed the door open to the bar. Griffin was scrubbing at a glass, idly chatting with Rock, who sat at the bar. They both greeted me with odd smiles.

"Hey, Marlin. How ya feelin'?" Rock asked me, patting the chair next to him. I sat and shrugged.

"I'm okay."

They both nodded, almost knowingly, and went back to chatting about a place called Flower Bud Village. We shipped seeds often to the florist in that town, Liz. Griffin spoke about longing to visit, seeing as his uncle worked at the bar there. Rock didn't seem too interested.

I rested my head against my hand and let out a breath just as the door opened. I whirled my chair around to see Jill. She smiled weakly when she saw me, but I didn't return the grin. Instead, I stood and motioned her to follow me outside. Rock and Griffin stared at us peculiarly as we left.

"Are you afraid of me, or something?" I asked in a mildly angry tone once we arrived outside. She stared at the ground intently, refusing to look into my eyes.

"No, it's not that at all." She began softly, her voice shaking slightly. "It's just… I didn't know what to do. I don't know how to handle it all."

I felt my face tighten and my chest heave. Her words stung.

"I understand, I guess. Does that mean you don't…?"

I couldn't finish the sentence. It pained me to think about that possibility.

"No! Oh, heavens, no!" She exclaimed fervently. "Marlin, I love you. I'm not going to call off the wedding because of this."

I sighed in relief, feeling my chest unclench itself.

"It's just that, well, I get anxious. And have panic attacks, because I don't know what to do, and I'm not in control. I guess it does frighten me a little, but I am always here for you…" She said very quietly. I reached forward, smiling slightly, and placed my hand behind her neck and pulled her towards me gently. She smiled a bright smile.

"Thank you for sticking by me."

With that, I leaned in to kiss her smiling mouth. She slowly wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned against my body. It made me feel like everything was going to be okay. And it made me feel at home.

After the make-up, the day was spent together. And in the blink of an eye, it was time.

I heard the wedding bells clanging beautifully against each other as I stood at the end of the bridge. Everyone in the village gathered around the area, all dressed in black and white, smiling cheerfully at me. And that's when I saw her.

Her hair was not in a ponytail like usual, but it was down, and fell gracefully passed her shoulders. It was curled to perfection. Her bright eyes were glazed with tears as she began her walk towards me. The dress she wore was the traditional wedding dress of Forget-Me-Not Valley, sewn by Ruby. It was a blinding white, and it fell just to her ankles. A simple ribbon was tied around her ribs, and light blue forget-me-nots were woven in her hair. I couldn't help but grin goofily.

Her small heels clopped against the wooden bridge to the beat of my pumping heart. And finally, she was right next to me. I reached for her hand timorously.

"We are gathered here to unite Marlin and Jill in marriage, which is held in honor among all people." The priest began.

"Love is one of the greatest of life's experiences. It brings meaning and happiness to our lives. To freely accept from and give to each other as lovers and friends in life's joys."

I smiled openly and she smiled back, blushing profusely. A small tear glided down her face and I reached to brush it away just like I had that day.

"Marlin, will you have this woman to be your wife, in all love and honor, in all faith and tenderness, to live with her and cherish her in this bond of marriage? If so, please answer I will."

"I will." I spoke with confidence. This caused more tears to pour down Jill's face gracefully.

"And Jill, will you have this man to be your husband, in all love and honor, in all faith and tenderness, to live with him and cherish him in this bond of marriage? If so, please answer I will."

"I will." She said very softly, smiling as she did so. I could feel my own tears welling up in my eyes when she said this, but I blinked them away.

"Repeat after me. I, Marlin, take Jill to be my wedded wife, and I do promise before these witnesses, to be thy loving and faithful husband in plenty and want, in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and health as long as we both shall live."

I repeated this clearly and confidently, feeling a sense of overwhelming joy build up inside me. The priest then turned to Jill, who now had a few more tears rolling down her face, and asked her to repeat the same.

"I, Jill, take Marlin to be my wedded husband, and I do promise before these witnesses," She stopped for a second, regaining her composure as more tears fell.

"… to be thy loving and faithful wife in plenty and want, in joy and in sorrow,"

Again, she closed her eyes and wiped a tear away.

"…I-in sickness and in health," Her voice cracked hesitantly.

"As long as we both shall live." She finished painfully, her voice wavering.

"By the powers vested in me, I present to all of the citizens in Forget-Me-Not Valley, the newly wedded couple. You may now kiss the bride."

I turned to my new wife and cupped her face in mine delicately. I kissed her tenderly as she wrapped her arms around my waist. I became lost in everything. The sweetness of her mouth, the intoxicating smell of the forget-me-nots in her hair, the overall magnificence of the wedding. The town's cheering brought me back to life. I pulled away, blushing slightly, and we walked hand in hand onto the bridge and passed the ecstatic crowd.

The only one not cheering was Celia. Her eyes were big and red; I knew she had been crying. I tried my hardest to ignore that fact, and we kept walking until we reached the farm.

And thus began our new life together.

**A/N: I hope this was a good beginning. Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think of it! I will try to update frequently.**


	2. Wine Colored Sky

**A/N: Yayy, new chapter! I am going to try to put more background info into this chapter, so I hope you enjoy!**

A bird gleefully singing outside the window awoke me that morning. My eyelids fluttered open and I yawned as quietly as I could, careful not to wake my new bride. Her thin body was entangled in mine, and for once, I felt truly blissful. Her deep breathing soothed me.

I remembered the night before, having a party at the bar until the wee hours of the morning. Almost the whole town was bustling about in the small tavern, excitedly talking about the wedding and about springtime coming upon us. There, we danced together for the first time as a couple, another Forget-Me-Not tradition.

Her grinning face and graceful composure was overwhelming. I had married an angel. The town clapped for us politely until everyone else began to dance to the soft beat of the song. I remember spotting Rock and Lumina, chuckling heartily as they danced; and Nami and Gustafa, silently resting their heads on each other's shoulders. It was a beautiful night, and the two of us walked home in a pleasant silence.

When we got to the house though, the silence was a bit more awkward and less enjoyable. Generally on the wedding night… well, the newlyweds didn't just go to sleep when they got back to the house. We gazed into each other's eyes, and hers were fearful. I smiled and kissed her forehead lovingly, silently agreeing with her. Not tonight.

And so, we dressed into our pajamas and crawled into bed, my arm snaked around her belly protectively. The last thing I remember was her happily sighing before we both fell into a deep sleep.

Now, I felt her stir a bit from sleep. I carefully combed my fingers through her silky hair and placed a kiss on the top of her head. She smiled.

"Morning." I whispered in her ear. She rolled over to face me, and kissed my jaw playfully.

"I could get used to waking up like this," She commented sleepily, staring into my eyes.

"Good." I replied as we both simultaneously stood and stretched.

"How are you feeling this morning?" She asked me, a hint of anxiousness in her voice. I hated that question.

"I'm fine. Do you want me to make breakfast?" I asked, desperate to change topic.

"You don't have to… I could cook something, if you wanted."

I laughed a little bit, scratching the back of my head.

"Your cooking is… well, rather distinctive."

She blushed. Jill didn't cook often, but when she did, she would come by Vesta's to have me taste it. And, well, let me tell you… it was not very good.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure Takakura stocked the fridge with food, so just go crazy." She replied with a smile, "I'm going to milk Betsy, okay? I'll be back."

And so, our married life began simple. Every morning, I would cook breakfast while she tended to the animals. After breakfast, I would help her with planting and watering, and after that she usually had to go into town. At that point, I would usually lounge around the farm, occasionally chatting with Takakura, or sometimes I would go to the bar or visit Vesta.

It wasn't stressful at all, unlike working at Vesta's, which was sometimes too much to handle. With Celia watching my every move, plus customers and shipping, and also planting, watering, and making sure Murrey didn't steal our newly grown vegetables. It was tough.

But on Jill's farm, it was laid back and easy to take care of everything. And nothing made me happier than seeing her smile every morning when we woke up entangled in each other. Life couldn't have gotten better.

Springtime passed by quicker than ever. I was sort of upset, because spring had always been one of my favorite seasons. The sugary smell of the air was calming, and the temperature was just cool enough. Working wasn't a chore, it was a pleasant activity. Surrounded by the cool air and the fresh, new grass… I loved it.

And at nights, the wine-colored sky seemed to stretch on forever.

But now, it was summer. Hot, muggy, miserable summer. I cursed the season. The sweat on my brow was endless and the exhaustion I felt after working for just a few moments was alarming. Going outside was a detriment to my health, but I didn't want to make Jill do all the work. We were a team now, I couldn't stop helping with the plants just because of a little exhaustion.

So, I decided that neglecting to tell her was a good plan. I didn't want to hear any more 'are you feeling okay?'s than I already heard. Honestly, I abhorred people worrying about me. It made me feel helpless… like a stray dog. I could help myself. I did in the city; I could do it here, too.

In the city, I worked alone. I had my own apartment, I took care of myself, and I didn't have many friends surrounding me. Hell, most of the time, I was completely alone in my work.

Oddly enough, I worked on building houses. I never had a passion for the job or anything, but it was convenient, and the pay wasn't all that bad. But that's when I started noticing the symptoms. The tunnel vision, the lightheadedness, and the irregular breathing. Twice, I passed out on the job before I decided that I needed to see a doctor.

They didn't know the exact name for the disease, but they knew it was a respiratory problem. I breathed in so many fumes from the paint that we used on the houses, and the pollution. Ever since I was a little boy, I had always been sensitive to fumes, and would often get woozy just being around them. And finally, after being surrounded by so many toxic vapors at my job… my system couldn't handle it.

My doctor told me that I should be wearing a highly protective mask while I work, and he sent me on my way. I figured that whatever was wrong with me couldn't be _that _bad, so I followed his advice and went straight back to work.

Bad mistake.

I didn't notice right away, but things got ten times worse in a short period of time. Every time I worked, I felt a pressure in my lungs, my muscles tensed to an unreasonably uncomfortable level, and sometimes they would lock themselves completely. It terrified me.

The last straw happened when I was on a latter, painting a two-story house, when my legs and arms locked in place. I couldn't hold on to anything. I toppled backwards, not even able to open my mouth to scream. I was in the hospital for days, and finally the doctor concluded I move to the country down the hill, called Forget-Me-Not Valley. I knew the name had sounded familiar, and that's when I realized an old relative, Vesta, lived there.

And that's how I came to move in. Farming wasn't exactly my choice of a job, but I got used to it. Everyone in this strange, new town was friendly, they were all concerned about my accident, and immediately I had people surrounding me day after day. Which, admittedly, wasn't exactly a good thing. Overly friendly people always struck me as odd. And that's exactly how I would describe this town. Overly friendly.

I had begun to think that everyone who stepped foot in this town was just programmed to be sociable and talkative. That is, until I met Jill about a year after moving in.

We met by accident. I had been walking into town with boxes of seeds covering my vision when I ran into someone. We both went toppling to the floor, the seeds flying in every direction. I waited for the 'Oh dear! I must have spaced out, I didn't see you. I'm so sorry! Here, let me help you.' Anyone in the town would have uttered a slew of apologies in a joyful tone, but this girl didn't.

"Ow, my butt!"

I couldn't help but let out a snicker. I looked up to see a girl I had never seen before. She had her hair in a high ponytail, and she wore simple farmer's clothing. Looking flustered, she clamped her hand to her mouth and laughed a bit herself. Her face turned bright red as she stood and brushed off her clothing.

"I'm sorry about that…" She said quietly, looking away. I raised one eyebrow in confusion. Shyness was not something I was used to seeing around here.

"It's okay." I replied; as we both squatted down to gather the seeds that scattered out of their bags.

"Oh, pardon my rudeness… I'm Jill. I just moved here." She commented as we picked up the seeds.

"I'm Marlin. I work on the farm across the bridge over there." I introduced, pointing to the bridge that I spoke of. She smiled briefly.

"Nice to meet you. I'm right there," She pointed to Takakura's farm, "I work with my father's old friend."

I nodded curtly, as the rest of the seeds were placed in their respectable bags. We both stood now, somewhat awkwardly.

"I'll see you around, I guess." I told her, before waving and passing her.

"Wait," She called after me. Furrowing my brow, I whirled around, "Do you need help?"

"Uh, okay." I said after a moment, a little surprised that she asked. Advancing towards me, she lifted two boxes easily out of my hands and we walked alongside each other until we reached Romana's Villa.

Ever since that day, she seemed to have an odd attraction to me. The attraction itself wasn't strange, but what was strange was the fact that she actually had any attraction at all to me. Most people weren't exactly fond of me. I wasn't like everyone else: sweet and talkative. I often kept to myself about most things. But for some reason, I would always catch her staring from her farm, or crossing the bridge with a spring in her step to visit me.

It wasn't a surprise that we each developed our own little crushes on each other. There was something about her that was just different from other girls in the town. For instance, I always used to think that it was inevitable that Celia and I would marry, but I never really liked the idea. But thinking of marrying Jill… that was something that sounded appealing.

She understood things very easily. She usually never asked too many questions like Celia, and she wasn't living to please me. Oddly enough, that's what I liked about her. The fact that she didn't try so hard, but she was actually herself around me. That was part of the reason I hadn't liked Celia. As sweet as she was, she seemed so different around me. Sometimes, I would pretend to be asleep downstairs while she spoke to Vesta, thinking I was in a deep sleep. Her tone was much calmer, and less high-pitched and happy. Maybe if she would have just been herself, instead of feeling like she needed to always be in high spirits around me, I would have liked her more.

And so, that is how everything came to be as it is now. Pleasant. At least, it was for a little while.

The steady heat of summer was becoming overbearing. In Forget-Me-Not Valley, the summer sun seemed to shine endlessly. It rose early in the morning, and didn't set until I was getting ready to sleep. It was becoming more and more difficult to work in the heat, but I didn't say anything to my unknowing wife.

One morning, I was making breakfast like usual as she went to feed the cow. After about fifteen minutes, she should have returned from the stables. But she hadn't yet burst through the kitchen doors, smiling and ready for her breakfast. I waited for a few extra minutes, figuring that the cow had been difficult that day.

After about ten minutes of waiting, I decided that it wouldn't hurt to go out to the stable and check on her. But instead of tentatively taking care of the cow, she was on the floor of the stable, holding her leg in agony. I rushed forward to scoop her up as she whimpered quietly. I didn't ask what happened, I just ran to the doctor's house without words. Heaving and sputtering, I rapped on the door urgently.

I sat watching the doctor mutter a series of 'hm's and 'ah's, until he finally turned to face me.

"Broken leg. Poor thing." He stated monotonously. I nodded in understanding as he turned back around to wrap the cast around her leg.

Not long afterwards, we hobbled back to the farm, with her on one unsteady, wooden crutch. I didn't neglect to notice that my vision was getting a little fuzzy after that mad dash to the doctor's house.

"How did this happen?" I asked her in a quiet tone as I helped her into the house.

"I have no idea. One moment, I'm leaving the barn, and the next I'm on the ground. There's some sort of uneven flooring in there." She replied, wincing as I lifted her onto the bed. I told her to hold on for a moment while I went into the kitchen and grabbed her breakfast. I set it on her lap and handed her a fork as she smiled at me goofily.

"Thanks. This is great." She praised me in a weak voice. I sat and watched her eat for a few moments.

"You frightened me." I told her, sitting on the bed and running my fingers through her mussed hair.

"Now you know how I feel."

I snorted before withdrawing my hand, standing from the bed and heading for the house exit.

"Where are you going?" She asked me worriedly.

"I'm going to take care of the plants, what else?" I replied somewhat crossly. I didn't hear her reply as I shut the door behind me and headed for the tool shed. We had just recently bought new summer seeds from Vesta, and hadn't yet planted them. So I grabbed the bag and a hoe before heading for the field.

Gripping the tool with both hands, I plowed the tip of it into the soil. After tilling ten squares, I wiped my soaked brow and leaned on the tool for a moment. Closing my eyes, I tried to steady my breathing in a way that the doctor in the city had told me. Breathe in with my nose, and out through my mouth. I did this at least twenty times before opening my eyes again. The sweltering heat had become overbearing, and I set the hoe down on the floor before heading back to the house.

I burst through the door and headed for the kitchen without a word to Jill. I heard her struggling out of the bed as I snatched a cup and poured some water into it. Just as I downed the glass, she wobbled into the kitchen on her crutch.

"Are you all right? You look pale." She asked me. I set the glass down on the counter with a _clang_ and nodded, although I didn't quite believe this myself. I didn't want her to ask any more questions, or try to help me with the planting. It was just farm work, which I had done a million times before…

So why was I having so much trouble with it? I felt puny.

"Okay, just let me know if you need help."

For some reason, something in my system seemed to snap. I looked back at her with glowering eyes.

"Why would I need help? It's not like I'm inept. I've been doing farm work for two years now, I could do it with my eyes closed." I seethed under my breath.

"Yeah, but lately your, uh… condition, has gotten worse." She replied in a whisper. I let out an angry groan.

"I'm fine. Don't baby me so much."

And with that, I left the house feeling like a total jerk. She just broke her leg, and I didn't give her any slack at all. Frustrated and exhausted, I grimaced as I stepped back into the warmth.

It didn't take long for the fuzziness to come back into my vision, and for my breathing to become more and more stunted. Leaning over to grab the bag of seeds I had set down on the ground, I spread them on the tilled soil. The pounding heat burned my skin as I grabbed the hoe once more. I hadn't used up the whole bag of seeds yet, so I needed to till a few more spaces of soil.

With each plow, I felt my stomach churn uneasily. I looked back at the house, which seemed to be growing more and more distant from the field. Squinting to shield my deteriorating eyes from the sun, I contemplated going back. But then I thought of Jill's worried face and anxious tone.

I could do this… it was only farm work.

Looking back at the squares of soil, my eyes seemed to shift uncomfortably. I felt the familiar squeeze in my chest, followed by the symptoms I knew so well. Lightheadedness, tunnel vision, and tense muscles. Closing my eyes, I tried to keep my breathing normal.

"In through the nose… out through the mouth…" I told myself, although my voice wasn't audible. I heard the noise of the hoe dropping onto the dry earth, and I heard the gleefully ironic song that a distant bird sung above my head.

When I opened my eyes once again, I couldn't see a thing.

I could feel my legs tingling softly, and then more urgently. But this wasn't like last time. I didn't have Vesta's strong arms to carry me to safety. Thinking of this made me panic even further. I knew what was going to happen next, so I used my last remaining energy to kneel down onto the ground so that the fall wouldn't be damaging.

The last thing I felt was the side of my face hitting the dirt ground.

**A/N: I really enjoy writing this story, so I figured that a quick update wouldn't hurt. I tried to give a bit more background on Marlin's disease (a made up background, of course. They were rather unclear about it in the game) and how he and Jill met. Let me know what you thought of it!**


	3. Grapevine Fires

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I'm glad you guys like this story, because I realllllly enjoy writing it. So! Here's the new chapter, I hope you all like it!**

_Frantic footsteps, followed by a cold hand on my neck._

"_Marlin?" The voice was gruff and harsh. Then another voice ripped into the smoldering summer air. Much lighter. It was not audible._

"_Get Dr. Hardy." Said the gruff voice, followed by a few muffled sounds. "Now!"_

_Muscles clenched uncontrollably. I was being ripped apart by the seams._

_Swift air hit my forehead. I dangled helplessly in someone's arms. They were sputtering and wheezing._

"_It's going to be fine."_

_But was it…? _

_Black turned to white, and the blinding intensity engulfed the world._

"_Everything is going to be fine."_

--

_T_he first thing I heard was the muffled voices of people to my right. I shifted a little, feeling very stiff, and fluttered my eyes open. My lids were heavy with strain. Turning my head slightly on the flat pillow, I saw Jill and the doctor speaking in hushed tones. I groaned slightly when I felt the aching muscles in my back.

"Ah, you're up." Dr. Hardy realized as he came closer to my cot. But I wasn't looking at him; I stared behind him to see Jill. She had her faulty wooden crutch in one arm, just like I had remembered from before. Unlike the last time I woke up in the doctor's house, however, she was not crying. Instead, she stared at me blankly.

I furrowed my brow and stared at her intensely, trying to read her face. But it was empty. Almost as if she wasn't even sure I was looking right back at her. Slowly, she advanced towards my cot, looking weary in the face.

"You gave us quite a scare, Marlin."

I looked back at the doctor, his hard face looking at a chart. I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before looking back at Jill, who was now next to the doctor. Her large eyes were heavy with worry, and her overall appearance made me wonder if she had been here all day. Or, maybe it had been longer…?

"Doctor," I asked in a feeble voice, "How long have I been here?"

He cocked his head to the side a little, and scratched his misshapen head.

"Oh, about a day and a half."

I sighed with relief. I prayed that the day would never come that I would find myself in the same position I was in about two years ago. Passed out in a hospital for days.

Jill continued to stare at me with a void expression. It was almost spooky.

"We are lucky that Takakura saw you on the field when he did." He stated in an unforgiving tone. I nodded in agreement.

"I'll be sure to thank him."

Dr. Hardy made a 'hm' noise, and went back to scribbling on his chart. Jill's hand reached forward to grace my bare arm lightly. Her fingertips were frigid. I let out a deep sigh.

"Now, I'm guessing you know where you are, yes?" The doctor asked.

"Forget-Me-Not Valley." I replied clearly. He nodded.

"Good, good. No memory loss. That's a good sign. Now, I know your muscles are probably sore from clenching them so violently, but other than that, are you having any light-headedness? Tunnel vis-"

"No." I interrupted him. I hated to hear him repeat those three symptoms that were so common in my life.

"That's good. Well, I have to let you go, then. But try to stay in the house on days like these," he advised me, "These temperatures are brutal for normal people, they are ten times worse for you."

I winced at the word 'normal'. That's all I had ever wanted to be. I was sick of these tendencies. I was sick of the worrying, and of everyone always looking out for me. Better not work too hard, they'd say, something might happen.

"Yeah. Thanks, doctor."

He nodded politely at me before I hobbled out of bed. Jill and I walked side-by-side back to the farm, both of us staggering. We didn't speak a word of each other. All I could remember was the last words I said to her. I'm fine. Don't baby me so much.

What if that had been the last thing I said to her?

Timidly, I grabbed her free hand as we entered the farm. The sun was just beginning to set as we entered the house, reflecting an orange and red hue on the window. Why did the sky have to be so beautiful during the most unbearable season of all?

When we entered the house, Jill sighed in exhaustion and plopped onto the bed. In an instant, she started to tear up.

"I'm terrified, Marlin." She told me, "If you end up in the hospital one more time this year, I might go mad."

I ran my fingers through my messy hair uneasily. I hated to agonize her so much.

"I'm sorry, but I can't control it."

She looked away, sniffling as she did so.

"I know. I'll always stick by your side. In sickness and in health, right? But when I heard Takakura yelling at me to get Dr. Hardy… I almost felt my heart stop." She said in a painfully sorrowful voice. "It's just frightening."

I sighed and sat next to her on the comfy bed, brushing a hair out of her face.

"I understand."

She smiled briefly.

"I love you." She muttered into my shoulder as I wrapped my arms around her thin frame.

"We should probably go to bed early." Jill suggested as I pulled away, wiping a tear off of her insipid flesh. I shrugged.

"You're probably very tired, so you can go ahead. But I think I'll stay up for a bit."

She nodded and grabbed her night clothes to change into as I sauntered towards the kitchen for a glass of water.

I had just been in a hospital bed for more than a day, and sleeping didn't sound very soothing at the moment. So when I reentered the room, I flipped on the television, muted it, and put on the subtitles so I could read along to the shows.

Weather… no. Planting tips… no. Astrology… no. Finally, I settled on the news. A hard-looking woman stacked her papers on the news desk with a stern look, as if to emphasize a point. I silently read the subtitles to myself.

_Leaving none dead, but few injured, the grapevine fires in Flowerbud Village devastated Ronald, the orchard's owner._

A darker skinned man appeared on the screen, clearly exasperated. He had a thick mustache that wiggled when he spoke.

_Ay, Dios Mio! I don't know how it happened! One moment, I'm sleeping soundly in my bed, and the next, there are shouts and screams coming from outside._

The screen flickered to a younger man, seemingly in his twenties, with a red bandana and purple, piercing eyes.

_I was inside when it happened, but when I ran out, I saw one of the little kids of Flowerbud already out there screaming. I'm not saying it was him, but…almost all the adults were sleeping._

The bright flames of the fire then showed on the screen, crackling and flickering wildly. A crowd of townspeople gathered as the fire was doused. The screen then switched to the inside of the town's hospital. A man with black hair, a soft face, and a doctor's coat with a nametag reading Alex appeared as the camera panned the hospital.

_There were only three injured, thankfully. Just a few major burns, but nothing very serious._

I winced and turned the television off; I wasn't quite in the mood to deal with more health-related traumas.

The room became an uneasy, black blur. I stared blankly at the television and pondered what I should do. I didn't feel like sleeping yet, nor was I hungry. Standing, I grabbed a fresh, white shirt from the bureau and swapped it for my tattered, dirty one. Shoving my hands into my pockets, I left the house and sauntered towards the bar. It wasn't that late out, but the town seemed to be deserted. I pushed open the doors to the bar to see Griffin strumming on his old, rusty guitar. Muffy was leaning on the bar, her arms crossed over her chest with a smile on her face. Gustafa was there, as well, humming along to a tune he seemed to know. Next to him was Nami, who stared into the distance blankly.

I stepped in furtively, careful not to disrupt the 'show'. Muffy calmly waved to me, as did Gustafa. Sitting on a bar chair, I listened as Griffin plucked the guitar with precision, hitting every note crisply. He had a serene smile planted on his face as he strummed, matching Gustafa's. The two were perfectly harmonized. It was times like these that I wish I was musically inclined.

When they finished soon afterwards, we clapped for them as they jokingly bowed.

"Hey Marlin!" Griffin greeted me. I had always liked him. Ever since I moved here, I never really went anywhere but Vesta's and the bar. So Griffin and I became quick friends. We were almost alike, in a sense. Although, him being a bartender practically required him to be sociable, unlike me.

"Sorry to hear about what happened," Gustafa commented in a calm voice. I nodded at him as the rest of the bar-goers voiced their agreement. I smiled to myself briefly; I liked this crowd of people. They didn't make a big deal about it, or ask many questions. They just accepted.

"Who wants to hear another song?" Griffin asked. Everyone muttered 'yes' and he began another tune, this time Gustafa did not chime in with humming. Him and Nami moved to the corner of the bar for a few moments; they were talking quietly and somewhat intimately. This left Muffy and I to listen in awe at Griffin, strumming away to a slow song, his eyes closed in concentration.

I'm not sure how long I stayed in the bar, but for some reason, it made me feel calm and at rest. When I got home, I found Jill, snoring ever so slightly, and I crawled in next to her feeling a little better about everything.

I awoke to an empty bed. Rolling over, I glanced at the clock that read 9:30 AM. Groaning to myself, I stood, somewhat unsteadily, and walked into the kitchen. She sat the table, scooping some mushy, soupy concoction into her mouth. When she saw me, she looked up and smiled.

"Good morning." She greeted me.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" I asked her, scratching the back of my aching head while walking to the stove. On it was a pot filled with the mysterious dish. Sniffing it, I grabbed a ladle and poured some into a bowl before joining her at the breakfast table.

"I figured you might want a few more hours of sleep." She commented before spooning some breakfast into her mouth. I stared out of the kitchen window as I ate the rather disgusting meal. The leaves were slowly turning brown. Fall was only a day away.

"Why?" I inquired harshly.

She looked at me with a quizzical expression.

"I don't know. I'm sorry…?"

I groaned outwardly.

"No, it's not your fault… I'm so irritable lately." I told her, finishing off my breakfast. She gave me a sympathetic look before brushing my hand with hers.

"I understand." She told me with a nod, repeating the very words I had said to her last night before getting up with difficulty to wash her dish off. I stood, grabbing it from her.

"Here, let me wash this for you."

She smiled briefly, although she seemed uneasy.

"Okay, here you go." She said, "I'm going to head to the barn, do you mind coming along? I might need a little help with Betsy today. But if you don't feel up to it, that's fine."

"No, I'll be there in a second."

She shrugged and staggered out of the door slowly. I viciously rubbed the bowl in my hand, finding it very hard to get this oatmeal-like substance out of the container. I couldn't help but feel a little angered at her. Why wouldn't I be able to help her with the cow? It wasn't like I was paralyzed or something.

I headed over to the barn after a few minutes, still a little heated, but it wasn't that big of a deal. She waved me over when I entered, looking slightly unnerved.

"This is tough." She said as she awkwardly leaned down to try and milk the cow. I stood by her side and let her use my shoulder to properly maneuver herself so she could do the job more easily. After quite some time of struggling, shifting positions, and almost slipping, we got the job done. Sighing in exasperation, she grabbed a hold of her crutch and we both left the barn and entered the house once again.

After a few moments, though, we both had the same question on our minds.

"Who's going to water the plants?" She asked first.

"I can do it. It's just watering." I told her matter-of-factly. She grimaced.

"Yeah but… do you think I should go out there with you? Just in case."

I felt a groan begging to come out, but I stopped it. I didn't want to upset her more, especially after she had worried over me. So I shrugged and we made our way outside, although secretly I didn't want her there with me. I wanted to prove that I could do it by myself, without a 'babysitter'.

This seemed to go on for a while. Through the first half of Fall, I was constantly watched. The crops were never planted or watered alone, she was always right there beside me. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy her company. It was far from that, actually. It was just that overwhelming feeling that she pitied me. There was only so much I could handle.

It wasn't until a late afternoon after a long days work that I got fed up.

"Okay, so tomorrow I'll feed the cow, and then I'll need to go into town really quickly to deliver milk to the Inner Inn, and then when I come back we'll water the plants. Sound good?"

"Why can't I just water the plants while you're gone?" I asked her tiredly, rubbing my temples.

"It'd just be better if we did them together." She told me, pulling her hair out of the ponytail and letting it fan over her shoulders.

"So, you have a broken leg and you can milk the cow, yet I feel perfectly fine and I can't even water some measly plants?" I asked menacingly. She turned to me, her bronze hair flipping in the opposite direction, and she gave me another one of those damned pity looks that I abhorred so much.

I slammed my fist into a wall with an aggravated groan.​ She watched,​ half-​curio​us,​ half-disturbed.

"Why is it so hard for you to accept the fact that I'm not incompetent?​" I roared angrily.​ She bit her lip once and sighed and I pounded the other​ fist into the wall,​ shooting her a glare.

"Why?​" I hissed.​ She opened her mouth​ to speak​ and I shook​ my head,​ staring her dangerously down.

"​Because I've had a few mishaps, now I'm incapable of doing the work that I've done for years?"

She slumped against the wall.

"I'm sick of all this." I said more calmly,​ running​ a hand through my messy​ hair and stepping back.

She muttered something under​ her breat​h and I let out one quick,​ agita​ted sound.​ I paced​ toward​s her restlessly.

"I love you, you know.​" She reminded me. I sighed.

"That​ doesn​'t fix thing​s.​" I mumbled and kicke​d the wall with the toe of my shoe irate​ly.​ I swore​ witho​ut lifti​ng a hand to cover​ it up.

"It used to." 

**A/N: A few things. One: I know Marlin's character is being kind of a jerk right now, I'm sorry! Two: Yes, I used Flowerbud Village from Harvest Moon: Magical Melody in this chapter. So I have to say that I don't own that game. For those of you who don't know, Ronald is the guy who owns the orchard in that game, along with Dan (purple-eyed guy with bandana) as his worker. Alex is the doctor of the town. Anywho, I hope this chapter was good. I'm looking forward to writing this story every day when I get home from school so that's a good sign! Let me know what you think!**


	4. Bluebird

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviews this story! It keeps me motivated!**

There was an old legend, passed down by the elders of Forget-Me-Not Valley. See, the people of this town all praised the bluebird. The bird in which the blue feather was dropped from; the bird that routinely circled the town, even during the migration season. The bluebird was believed to be the guardian of this village. The tune it sang was supposedly a pleasant omen, foretelling that it was going to be a good day that day. There's even a saying that the townspeople have passed down from generation to generation, and it is still heard on some of their lips today.

_The day the bluebird isn't singing is a day of solitude._

The people of the village seemed to praise the bird, claiming that it was a miracle how it always seemed to be in the town, resting on top of a house or trotting around the fields. That is part of the reason that the feather of this bird is sacred. Sacred like the bond of marriage.

I remember hearing the bird's cheerful tune the morning after our wedding. It had woken me from slumber, and ever since then, I had heard the bird's tune every morning since then.

This morning, I did not hear it.

I didn't hear it when I got dressed in silence, or when I made breakfast for two even when she wasn't awake yet. I didn't hear it when I left the house to water the plants in privacy. I didn't hear it just like I didn't hear my wife's cheerful, singsong voice.

It was a lonely morning. I couldn't help but feel completely somber, even in my favorite season of all. Fall had come quickly, and that was probably the only good thing about today.

The fallen leaves were flawlessly crisp when I stepped on them with my boots. The soft oranges, deep reds, and light browns were perfect hues, and the sun wasn't as blaring and insufferable as it had been in the summertime. The air was cool and the constant zephyr felt nice on my face. The air wasn't muggy, it was clear as can be, and for once, I wasn't sweating like a pig while I worked outside. Finally, I felt like I could breath again, tasting the sweet autumn air every time.

Meanwhile, Jill didn't speak to me all day. She wasn't giving me the cold shoulder; I just think that she was somewhat afraid to talk to me after I had yelled at her the night before. Every time I looked at her, she seemed to grimace as if I was going to raise my voice once more. But I never did. I just tried my hardest to stay calm. And surprisingly, that wasn't hard, considering my surroundings. Fall had always eased my tension.

After completing my chores, I entered the house once again to find that Jill wasn't there. I opened the kitchen door, and her plate was in the sink, void of food. She must have been in the barn.

Sadly enough, I was very bored when we didn't talk. Sometimes we would just sit in the house if she didn't have errands to run in the town, and we would talk about many different things. These were the times when I loved her wholly and completely. She never ceased to amaze me with the wisdom in her words and the vigor in her speech. She often had things to say, and she had a way of expressing them that made me go wild. It was times like those when I realized how absolutely in love I was with her.

And then of course, there were the times that drove me mad. The babying, the doubt, the constant questioning about my health. 'Are you okay?' 'Should you take a rest?' 'Maybe you should go lie down'. But I tried my hardest to shove those flaws into the back of my mind. At least, until last night.

Restlessly, I left the farm and bounded towards Vesta's, desperate for some sort of company.

Huh. Funny. Me? Wanting company? That was a first.

"Marlin! Good to see ya. We've been missing you around here." Vesta greeted me. I smiled briefly.

"Yeah, it has been a while." I stated. I looked around my old house, feeling a sense of nostalgia overwhelm me.

"How's married life? Not too tough, I hope!" She laughed at the last part, making me slightly unnerved.

"Uh, it's good. Well, it was good. We had a little fight last night." I told her, scratching the back of my wild hair. She furrowed her brow.

"What about?" She inquired, putting her hands on her large hips. I continued on to tell her the whole story. About the passing out, the babying, the yelling. She nodded thoughtfully the whole way through.

"It's just a little bump along the road," She replied nonchalantly, "All married couples have some problems in the beginning, but in the long run, it makes you that much stronger as a duo."

I pondered this thought as Vesta patted my shoulder somewhat roughly.

"Don't think too much of it, it'll blow over!" She said with a laugh, her red cheeks glowing in the dim light of the house. I smiled briefly.

"I guess you're right."

"You're damn right, I am! Now, I have to get out there and make sure Murrey isn't smuggling my newly grown vegetables!" She said with vigor, "Are you staying for a little bit?"

I nodded and shoved my hands into my pockets. She shrugged.

"All right, suit yourself."

I watched her burning red hair disappear behind the door with a slam. As soon as it did, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Whirling around, I saw Celia, and almost jumped out of my skin. She giggled at my surprise.

"Hi Marlin!" She greeted me with a smile and a timid wave.

"Hello." I said, feeling uneasy. She had a habit of making me feel like that. Nervously, she looked down at her feet and bit her lip, as if she wanted to say something. I waited. A chill ran up my spine as I remembered the last time she had that look on her face.

It was fall of last year; ironically the day that Jill gave me the blue feather. She had that same anxious expression, and her bottom lip disappeared behind her front teeth as she uneasily gnawed on her lip. Her eyes darted in every direction, not daring to look at mine.

_I love you_, she had said. I remember feeling frozen, completely unaware of what I should say back. I didn't love her, and I couldn't just outwardly say this. I remember sighing and reaching for her bony shoulder, squeezing it gently. _I'm… sorry. _I choked the words out like they were bad food, feeling my voice shake and stir. Her face had fallen completely, going from hopeful to dejected in a matter of seconds.

"I… I heard you talking to Vesta." She interrupted my thoughts, looking at me intensely with those huge, russet eyes of hers. I raised an eyebrow unsteadily. "About Jill."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. And I think it was unfair of her to baby you like that. You're a grown man…"

I could feel the color draining from my face as she said this. Especially the last sentence; her words were coated in longing. I shuddered.

"I just don't think you deserve that," She continued, "Especially after everything you've been through. You know, Marlin? I've missed you." She said plainly. "A lot. It's so lonely with just Vesta and I."

Reaching a hand forward, she took mine timidly. My arm seemed to freeze as she rubbed her soft thumb along my palm. Why wasn't I pulling away? My inner thoughts screamed at me, but I felt frozen.

"Jill doesn't appreciate you as much as I do."

She took a step closer to me, and that was the last straw. Snapping back to reality, I ripped my hand away from hers and glared.

"You don't know _anything _about her. Or me." I hissed, inches away from her face. She looked terrified.

And with that, I maneuvered around her and pushed open the door into the cool air. Vesta waved goodbye to me as I stormed out of the farm, hearing the eerie whir of the windmills die out as I approached the bridge I knew so well. Instead of crossing it though, I stopped on it and looked down onto the pond, seeing my own angry reflection looking back at me.

The water looked so breathtaking at this time of the year. It was perfectly clear, with a few freshly fallen leaves floating on top of it. You could see the fish, darting wildly about, as if something was chasing them. And the glassy rocks at the bottom, glinting brilliantly in the sunbeams.

I stared at my reflection for a while. I looked miserable, with deep bags under my eyes and a permanent frown etched on my face. My calm blue eyes seemed to turn steely, and my face was pale as a ghost. I reached down to touch my reflection, but I only destroyed it when my finger came into contact with the water, erupting in millions of little ripples. I let out a deep breath and stood before heading back towards the house.

I stepped inside the dreary building just as the sun began to lower itself, leaving the sky a purple and red combination. As I walked slowly back to the house, I had thought up some things to say to Jill. Vesta's words echoed in my head like the bluebird's song, which I missed.

But when I pushed open the door, she wasn't there. The house was left the exact way that it had been before I went to Vesta's. Even her barren breakfast dish was still in the same spot in the sink. I frowned worriedly. What if she was hurt? What if she fell on her leg and couldn't move?

Frantically, I burst out of the house and ran towards the barn. No sign of her there, or in the tool shed, or any other building in the farm. I left and ran towards the Inner Inn, ripping the door open.

"Marlin!" Rock greeted me with a goofy grin, "Just in time for a milk drinking contest."

"Have you seen Jill?" I asked, ignoring his ridiculous offer. He shook his head.

"Not recently. She came in her at around noon, but I haven't seen her since."

Not even bothering to say goodbye, I went to the bar and the same process repeated itself. Over and over again, I burst into houses and buildings, but no one had a clue. Finally, after I reached all the way up to Romana's Villa, I was out of breath. Walking slowly back to the house, I prayed that she had shown up. But there was no sign of her.

Plopping down on the bed, I buried my face in my hands, slightly shaking as I did so. It was almost eight, and by now we would be eating dinner together. She should have been in hours ago. And then another thought crossed my mind. What if she left…? What if she walked up that hill to the city, planning on never coming back? What would I do without her?

Balling up my fists, I punched the wall in anger, snarling as I did so. My knuckles turned white as I heard a cracking noise. Damn those brittle walls. A large hole gaped where my fist was, but I wasn't fazed. I was furious.

I paced for what seemed like forever, my fists still clenched and my frown still deeply engraved into my face. Millions of thoughts ran through my mind at once and I couldn't control it. My eyes stung and my breath burned in my throat as I thought of all the possibilities.

And finally, the door pushed open timidly. Checking the clock, I saw that it was almost eleven by now. I crossed my shaking arms in front of my chest and glared at her as she came inside.

"Where have you been?" I asked, trying to keep my voice quiet but it had already grown out of control. Her eyes widened.

"I w-was by the river, across from Carter and Flora's tent." She said nervously.

Squinting my eyes at her, while mentally slapping myself for not checking the river, I crossed my arms tighter over my heaving chest.

"Until midnight?" My voice was dripping with venom as I stared her down.

"Well, Gustafa was playing his guitar for some towns people, and I guess I must have dozed off…"

I hated the way she was acting so nonchalant about this. I paced for _hours_. And she just stood in front of me, slumping casually, half-lidded from exhaustion. I glared more fiercely, feeling a flame ignite in me.

"I looked for you," I muttered under my breath, ripping my eyes away from her as I tried to stay calm. "I searched every goddamn house in this village."

"I'm sorry," She said weakly. I heard her voice waver unsteadily, as if she was afraid of me. I felt a pang in my heart but ignored it, stepping closer to her.

"I thought you were hurt. I thought you fell, and couldn't get up. I thought you _left._" I said the last word with bitterness, feeling my fists clenching once again. "I waited for hours. What do you expect me to do? Shrug, and go to sleep?"

She didn't answer. She just gnawed at her thumbnail fretfully, a large crease forming in the middle of her forehead. I could hear her staggered breathing.

"Answer me!" I roared, inching even closer to her.

I winced at my own words, wishing they hadn't come out so piercingly. She kept biting that nail, growing more apprehensive by the second.

"Goddamn it…" I muttered under my breath, turning away from her before I did anything drastic. What was going on with me? I had never gotten so worked up in my life than I had in these past two nights. I could feel my heart pumping wildly in my chest as I rubbed my temples. When I turned back around, she was looking right at me.

"I just… I thought you didn't want to see me." She said, her voice tremulous and barely above a whisper. Her eyes filled with glassy tears. "I thought y-you hated me."

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I hadn't expected that answer. Stepping backwards, I let my arms drop to my sides and swing carelessly. My knuckles still throbbed from the wall, but there was a much worse pain in my heart. I felt my chest compressing, but I knew it wasn't due to my exhaustion or my disease; it was due to her sorrow-filled words.

"Because of one fight?" I asked her, calmer this time. "I could never hate you."

"After last night, and this morning when you didn't talk to me, I just… I figured it was the end." She continued. "So I tried not to hang around the house because I was afraid of facing that. And I just ended up staying there for so long, I didn't notice the time pass by… I'm sorry."

Now, a few tears were freely dropping down her face. She looked miserable, all because of me. I was ashamed.

My brow softening, I stepped towards her slowly and cupped her smooth face in my calloused hands. She looked up at me innocently, as I remembered Vesta's words.

"It's just a bump in the road. In the long run, it'll just make us stronger."

She smiled simply yet still unsteadily as I leaned down to kiss her lips; something I hadn't done in a long time. She wrapped her thin arms around my neck and laced her fingers in my hair sweetly before I pulled away.

The next morning, I was awoken by one of the most beautiful sounds in the world. Smooth and lucid was the bluebird's song, gently drifting into the room and giving me some kind of hope that things would be better today.

**A/N: Hm, I know this was a quick 'fight and then make up' scene, but I'm just trying to illustrate the fact that Marlin is ashamed of his yelling. Although, this might bite him in the butt later on. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter, and I'm looking forward to writing more! By the way, that bluebird story was made up by me. But, they do mention the bluebird a few times, so I just went off of that!**


	5. Normal

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I'm sorry this chapter took a little longer than the other ones, but it's more of a transition chapter so I can get to the next part of the story. So, I hope you enjoy!**

In the blink of an eye, I could feel winter coming on again. The sky was always bleak and gray, reflecting the mood of the town. Dreary. My skin was always rigid and glacial during this season, as if I was always standing in a freezer. I liked the winter scenery, but I didn't like the actual season. The cold was so uncomfortable, especially for my condition. Being outside was like breathing in burning air that clenched my throat. It wasn't pleasant, so I avoided going outside.

Jill loved the winter, however. Snow was her favorite type of weather, and she even made me a snowman once or twice. Luckily for her, her leg was almost fully healed, and she was able to walk without her crutches. I would watch her from inside, piling huge wads of snow on top of each other, making her clothes frosty and white. She would laugh as she grabbed stray rocks and pushed them into the 'head' of the snowman, making a happy face. Sticking a piece of straw in his mouth and two stiff twigs for arms, she looked back at me from the inside and mouthed the words 'Voila!' with a large grin on her face.

Day after day, I would watch the tiny snowflakes drift from the sky and land softly on the ground or the windowsill. It was calming in a way, but it taunted me. I yearned to go outside and feel the snow dissolve in my palms, just like Jill. But the only times I would venture outside, I was wrapped so tightly in coats, scarves, and gloves, that I couldn't feel the beauty of winter, just the drab and desolate view of it. Thus, the acrid taste in my mouth caused by the season.

But what I hated the most was sitting at that window, watching the sky. Smog from the city was beginning to seep into the fresh country air, and it petrified me. Everyday, I could see the smoke from the factories intensifying in the distance, causing my heart to pump quicker with each passing second. I dreaded the day that the contamination would cause me to move even farther away.

It wasn't until about halfway through winter that I realized it had almost been a full year. I could just picture the wedding day in my mind, the blades of grass peeking through the snow as we gripped hands in nervousness. It was beautiful day, and it's hard to believe so much has happened since then. I sighed in reminiscence that morning as I made steaming cocoa for the two of us.

When I sat down at the table, I pushed the steaming mug towards her. But she just stared at it, looking pale in the face. Her mouth was pursed in a tight line, and I could see her frail hands reach for the mug slowly. But then she stopped. A look of complete dread on her face, she clutched her stomach in distress. Her eyes widened to an alarming level. Something was wrong.

"Jill?" I frantically called her name, standing from the table and rushing to her sad. But she didn't respond, instead she made an awful wrenching noise. Swiftly, I swooped her out of her chair and into my arms before making a dash for it. It had just turned six, and I was praying that the doctor wasn't still sleeping.

Rapping on his door as Jill grabbed furiously at my collar, her eyes closed in concentration, I felt scared to death. Taking in huge gulps of chilly air, I felt it freeze in my lungs as the doctor opened the door, looking awfully weary. Beckoning us to come in, I burst through the door and ran to place her on the cot.

"I… don't know wh-what happened." I coughed out, pacing my breathing as best as I could. The doctor scratched his head and bounded for Jill, who was squirming on the cot. I felt my heart wrench painfully at the sight of her.

After I sat there, watching the doctor mutter things to himself for a few minutes, prodding and poking my wife's stomach. I wrung my hands nervously, waiting for him to turn around and give me the diagnosis. But when he did face me, his expression was not solemn or stern, it was amused. The odd smile on his face made me even more nervous.

"Congratulations, to the both of you. Jill is pregnant."

I felt my own jaw drop uncontrollably and my heart stop beating for a moment. The world seemed to spin before my eyes.

"I… she's… preg-… what?" I sputtered out, looking at Jill as she sat up on the cot, still clasping her stomach. She wore a gigantic smile on her pale face. Dr. Hardy nodded enthusiastically.

"She'll need to come in for a check up every once in a while, but not too often. I see enough of you two already." He said jokingly. I laughed without humor as I pondered what he had just said again. My memory backtracked to that night, the night before she broke her leg.

I remember the anticipation in her eyes and her wringing her hands nervously. I remember the weak smile on her face and the way that her hair tumbled onto her shoulders gracefully. And the nod she had given me; the nod of approval. I remember advancing towards her, taking her into my arms and holding on tight. It was a beautiful night, and it will forever hold a place in my heart. But I wasn't expecting this.

It wasn't that I was unhappy. No, I was far from it. But all of the sudden, my heart paced wildly and my stomach jumped inside of me. I was going to be… a father? I could feel my throat tighten as Dr. Hardy explained to Jill what kind of vitamins she should be consuming.

When he was finished, Jill stood with difficulty from the bed, still suffering stomach pains. As we advanced towards the door, I held onto her shoulders protectively, making sure she could walk all right.

"Just rest for today," The doctor said as we opened the door into the frigid air, "Try to stay off your feet, and the pain should subside."

Exiting the house, we both waved briefly. The air was hazy when we stepped out, causing us both to squint our eyes to see clearly. My arm was wrapped securely around her shoulders, my hand gripping her arm forcefully due to the stinging arctic. I could feel my own teeth starting to chatter as we ducked our heads and ventured into the indistinguishable atmosphere.

"Are you okay?" She asked me. I hadn't noticed how hard I was gripping her arm, or how bad my jaw jumped up and down until she asked me this. I merely grunted in response, pulling her closer to my chest for body heat. As I did this, she looked up at me and gave me a 'you're-being-difficult' kind of look, but I disregarded it. My ambition was to just get home without turning into an icicle.

By the time we entered the house, my whole body was anesthetized. Slumping into a nearby chair, I sighed as Jill climbed onto the bed, still looking pained. Resting her head on the pillow, she let out an elongated breath and closed her eyes momentarily, before opening them again and gazing at me.

"Marlin," She began, "Are you… okay about this whole thing? I mean, about the whole… being pregnant thing?"

I could clearly see the concern in her expression and words. She thought that I didn't want a baby, and she couldn't have been more mistaken. Standing with some difficulty, I walked towards the bed and sat on the edge of it, smoothing out the quilt that lay so carelessly on top of the mattress. I remember my mother, sewing that quilt just for me when I was young. I smiled, thinking of when she gave it to me for Christmas. Her face had crinkled like paper when she grinned and handed me a carefully wrapped box. And I thought how someday, I'd be giving my own child a gift that he or she would remember. It was a pleasing thought.

"Well?"

I snapped back to reality, looking at my awaiting wife. She was picking at her fingernails; a habit I had realized meant that she was panicky.

"Of course I'm okay with it." I told her, trying my best to sound heartening, "What could be better? I'm very glad."

Looking dubious, she stopped picking her nails and folded her hands on top of her stomach.

"You just seemed a little shocked."

"Well, I was shocked. But not in the bad way, trust me." I told her, my own voice dithering just a little. A father… me. Someone who has never been around kids before, someone who was barely a kid himself. How was I going to pull this off? "I'm just not really… uh, equipped. That's all."

Cocking her head to the side, she raised an eyebrow at me.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know much about children." I replied silently, looking away from her.

"And you think that I do?"

Surprised, I looked back at her. She was now smiling at me, her bright teeth immaculate. I returned a smirk, almost relieved that we would be struggling through this together. I made a mental note to myself to talk to Vesta about it. She had practically raised me when we were younger, and I'm sure she would know things about kids.

Leaning in slightly, I kissed her sweet, smiling mouth briefly, before trailing off of her lips and onto her porcelain neck. She laughed, her delicate hands on my shoulders. Looking up at her, she seemed positively lustrous, especially with that million-dollar smile of hers. I happily graced my hand on her tummy, causing her to giggle even more.

"I can't believe this is happening," She said as I trailed my fingers across the surface. "We're going to be… parents."

Parents. Such a simple word, yet it meant everything. We would be the determining factor of this kids future. We would be the one's who tell him what's right or wrong. We would influence his whole life. Taking my hands from her stomach, I sat up and brushed my fingers through my unruly hair. What if… the child inherited my condition? What if he was different, like me? My stomach churned at the thought.

"Do you want me to get Takakura to milk the cow?" Jill asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"No. I'll do it." I said. Although I didn't exactly feel hale and hearty after running to the doctor's in the bitter cold, the cow was inside a warm barn. So, it shouldn't be that hard.

"Okay…" She replied, eyeing me peculiarly as I stood from the bed to leave. I felt my fists tighten as I shut the door behind me and headed towards the barn. Even after all of our mishaps, she still seemed to agonize about me. Sighing, I watched as my breath puffed in front of me. As I breathed in, the glacial air disturbingly stung my nostrils and my throat. It seemed as though it had gotten ten times colder since I was outside just a few minutes ago. I cursed the winter season over and over again until I was in front of the barn door.

I entered the humid barn and saw Betsy standing by the fodder dispenser, mooing irately at me when she saw me. Pushing past the cow, I grabbed an armful of feed and trotted over to the trough. Brushing my hands on my pants, I sat down on the ground for a moment, feeling a slight wooziness. I closed my eyes and sat for a few seconds, using the breathing technique I had utilized countless amount of times before. Feeling an ounce better, I stood.

Grabbing the milker from a nearby box, I looked at the cow in bewilderment. I had seen Jill do this many times before, but I wasn't too sure on the minutiae. Advancing towards Betsy, she seemed to ogle at me unusually as I knelt down. My vertigo came back once again, but I tried to ignore it as I milked the cow. I'm sure that I didn't do it right, but by then, I was more concerned with getting back to the house and resting than making sure I milked the cow correctly. Throwing the milker into the box, I began to leave the barn when I felt something trickling down my lip.

Reaching up to brush it away, I looked at my index finger in alarm. A deep burgundy spot of blood stared back at me. I felt more trails streaming down from my nostrils and the unsteadiness I was feeling before got a little bit worse. Pushing the barn door open, I walked back to the farm as swift as I could. My feet felt weighty in the snow, and the blood seemed to drip faster than before. Finally I reached the house, pulling open the door triumphantly.

"Oh my god," Jill said in revulsion when I emerged into the room. "What happened to you?"

"Nosebleed. It's not a big deal. The dry winter weather really gets to me sometimes." I lied. I didn't want to tell her the reality: that I was worried, and that I had never gotten a nosebleed so randomly like this. She crumpled her brow as I burst into the kitchen, feeling a rampant headache start to form.

Grabbing a few paper towels, I dabbed my sodden nose carefully. After using two paper towels, I shoved them into the trashcan and went back into the main room only to feel more beads trickling down my face. Angrily, I went back to the kitchen and grabbed more pieces of paper towels before going back to the bedroom and sitting down with a _thump._

"Are you sure everything is okay?" She asked me feebly. I glowered at her from behind the large paper towel.

"Yes. I'm fine." I retorted crossly. But she didn't listen to me. Instead, she threw her legs over the edge of the bed and stood, her legs wobbling slightly. I almost felt a snarl erupt through my mouth but I caught myself.

I don't know why I was always so opposed to having people assist me. Ever since the city, I had turned away people who tried to give me advice, or care for me. I was obstinate. Just like my father. Which was partly the reason that him and my mother divorced, because he wouldn't let her reach out to him. And here I was, glaring down my own wife who just wanted to make sure I was all right. Of course, at this time, I hadn't fully realized that pushing her away could ultimately cause something more.

"Get back to bed," I ordered her, "I don't need help."

"Why are you so stubborn?" She asked me, sitting back on the bed. "You never let me help you."

"It's just a nosebleed, Jill!" I exclaimed, feeling my jaw stiffen irritably. She crossed her arms with a _humph_. I could barely believe these words myself, however. The paper towels I had just retrieved were already soaked in blood, and it wasn't stopping. I tilted my head backwards slightly, but that didn't help either. Shooting up from my chair, I bolted into the kitchen once again to grab the whole roll of paper before sitting again.

"I hate this."

I looked up at her confusedly, still holding paper to my bleeding nose. Her eyes were filled with fury and she was practically constricting herself with her tightly crossed arms.

"Why won't you let me help you? Why do you just sit there and let me watch you deteriorate?"

"This isn't a big deal at all!" I retorted. Although, each time I said this, I was becoming more and more wary of my physical state. As if every time I said that nothing was the matter, it just got worse.

"But you're not thinking of everything else that's happened! What about the summer? What if it just gets worse?"

"I asked you if you could handle it, Jill. I'm sorry I'm not normal!" I yelled, feeling the blood still dripping from my nostrils. She looked taken aback at this statement. Her arms loosened from her chest. I looked away as I ripped off another piece of paper and held it to my nose, thinking of Dr. Hardy at the hospital when I had passed out over the summer. _"__These temperatures are brutal for normal people,"_ he had said, _"they are ten times worse for you."_

Normal. Like Jill, like Vesta, like Celia… like everyone. They were all sheep in a pasture, and I was the black sheep. The fish out of water. I wasn't ordinary, I was crippled. Everyone else in this damn town didn't have a care, while I had more than a care. I had the whole world.

"I hate this," I mumbled from behind my towel, repeating the words she had just uttered a few moments ago. She stared at me oddly.

"Marlin?" She asked me. I crinkled my forehead at her, wondering why she was looking at me so strangely. She stood from the bed and started to slowly approach me.

I tried to reply, but I opened my mouth and couldn't heave out the words. She just kept looking at me, her expression changing from bewildered, to terrified.

"Marlin…?"

My whole world swayed uneasily, as if someone had grabbed it and started shaking it. I tried to keep my focus on Jill, who looked as if she was going to throw up. I gripped the sides of the chair with vigor, feeling my head flop to the side.

"Oh god," She choked out, grabbing her mouth with one trembling hand before running out of the house, crying something inaudible. I tried to keep my head upright, but it was so heavy that my neck could barely support it. The hand that was held at my nose slowly fell, and I could feel the blood dripping down my chin and onto my white shirt. My eyelids flutter to a close, and all of my muscles released their tension.

And in a few moments, I could see a white dot in the middle of both of my eyes. So small, so insignificant. Yet, the dot expanded, covering most of my eyesight. The last thing I saw was the very corners of the room, blurred and out of focus, before everything went completely colorless.

**A/N: Sorry for making him pass out again. But trust me, I have a plan for what's coming next. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even if it was very minimal dialogue until the end. Let me know what you thought!**


	6. Red

**A/N: Okay, I'm trying something a little bit different here. This chapter is in ****Jill's POV****, so don't get confused! I hope this chapter goes well. I just wanted to switch things up a little bit, and I hope you like it!**

The only thing I could see was red. That damned color that seeped down his insipid face, crawling down his chin and staining his off-white shirt. The color that gushed from him like a water fountain, causing the bile to race up my throat and threaten to burst out. I hated that color. I abhorred it.

I always thought I had seen him at his worst. I had watched him in the hospital, cold and pale, weak and weary. I had seen him on the ground, passed out from loss of air in his lungs. I had seen him be carried by Takakura, dangling lifeless in his arms, seemingly dead. I had seen him livid, spouting out meaningless words from his curled lips. I thought that I had seen the worst. But I was mistaken.

We were arguing. Right in front of my eyes, he just… weakened. His eyelids grew heavy, the seemingly harmless nosebleed turned into a danger. I watched as the color drained from his face, the only hue left on it was the deep maroon droplets that were falling off of his trembling chin. This time, I was there. I was watching this all happen to him as he slewed a string of incoherent words together, and only in a matter of seconds. As soon as his head lolled to the side, I knew I needed to get help.

"Takakura!" I screamed, rushing from the house. My stomach churned with every footstep, partly due to my previous condition, and partly because I was scared for his life. The sullen man burst out of his house just in time to see me drop to my knees, clenching my mouth in one hand and my stomach in the other.

"Jill!" He screamed, rushing towards me. But I waved one hand frantically at him.

"M-Marlin." I choked out, pointing to the door behind me. His eyes averted towards the house and he burst into the door as I could feel the contents of my stomach rise.

"Oh god," I heard Takakura mutter while I ran to the side of the house, emptying my stomach while clutching onto a wood plank for dear life. I heard frantic footsteps exit the house, so I wiped my mouth hastily and ran after Takakura, with Marlin drooping in his arms. I felt warm, brackish tears fall down my face as we neared the doctor's house.

Dr. Hardy opened the door, not at all surprised to see us. After all, this was at least the fourth time visiting him in the past year. He held the stiff, wooden door wide open so Takakura could fit through and plop Marlin down on a bed. I stood far away from the both of them, catching my breath and holding my stomach once again. As Dr. Hardy examined my husband, Takakura came over to me and gently put his hands on my shoulders, pushing only slightly to get me to sit down in the chair behind me.

I closed my eyes as I heard the doctor mutter to himself in a hushed tone. Pressing my hands against my aching stomach, I let a few more tears roll down my pink cheeks, praying that everything would be all right. Although, I didn't have much hope.

I wasn't sure how much more of this I could take. My mind backtracked to our wedding day. "_In sickness and in health," _I had said. So why wouldn't I keep that vow? It had become so hard for me to just look at him lately. He always wondered why I asked him how he was feeling; it was always because he looked so lifeless. His eyes were often bloodshot; the blue hues no longer occupied them. Instead, a dark cloud of gray shrouded those sapphire orbs. His mood was often rotten, his skin was often pallid, and it had become so hard to just have a normal conversation sometimes.

Rubbing my temples, I contemplated what to do. My mind took me back to just this morning, when I had that awful, gut-wrenching pain. I couldn't believe it when the doctor told me about the pregnancy. The fact that something so tiny, something so full of life was growing inside me… it was wild. It was getting hard for me to keep my hands off of my stomach since then, even if the child is barely a speck. I remember Marlin's surprised, yet somehow pleased face when he found out. It brought more and more tears to the tops of my eyelids just thinking about it. How were we going to raise a baby in such conditions?

"Jill, stay right here. I have to run over to the Inner Inn for a few moments, and I'll be right back." Dr. Hardy told me gravely, ripping my attention away from my morbid thoughts. I nodded at him absentmindedly, waiting for him to shut the door completely behind him before I stood on wobbly legs. Advancing towards his body slowly, I was at least relieved to see the blood was gone, minus some of the dried red spots in the crevices of his face. Eventually, I was right next to the cot, my messy ponytail swooping over my shoulder and dangling over his clammy face. I almost wanted to reach out and grace my trembling fingers across his prominent jaw, but I resisted the urge.

Instead, I just stared blankly at him. I clasped my hands together for dear life, feeling my lower lip jump violently. I hated the serene look on his face, oddly enough. I was so used to his signature knitted brow and intense gaze. Instead, his closed eyes sat in one position, inert. His usual thoughtful demeanor was completely silent now, with no thoughts at all occupying his head.

I let out an elongated breath before stepping away from the cot after hearing the doctor advancing towards the house. As soon as I sat back down in my chair, the door creaked open.

"I'm sorry about that, I had to send Tim to the city to get another doctor to assist me." The doctor explained himself as he walked in, looking flustered. He could clearly see the anxiousness in my face, and as if he read my mind, he answered, "Don't worry. He's just up the hill, it won't take long."

"Why do you need another doctor?" I asked him, "I mean… the other times you didn't need anyone else."

Dr. Hardy scratched the back of his bald head thoughtfully.

"Well, Jill, it doesn't seem like he's improving. And that's never a good sign, especially with what he has. So I had to call in someone from the city. It's not a big deal, if anything, it will help even more. Just don't be scared."

I nodded in understanding. I was surprised at the doctor's effortless, soothing voice and logic. As I thought this, he went back to Marlin's body, checking his pulse for the millionth time.

"I… really appreciate this." I told him, my voice wavering uneasily. I had felt so bad for the doctor, always having me behind him while he muttered to himself, scratching his chin thoughtfully. I was always there, tissue to my nose, watching his eyes open and blink rapidly. I always felt the need to thank him for putting up with us.

"It's not a problem." He replied, turning as he said this. One beady eye and one mechanical one stared at me as he nodded and went back to examining Marlin.

After about twenty minutes of silence, the door finally pushed open to reveal a rather short man, with gray hair that barely enclosed the top of his head. Trying to cover up his enormous bald spot with what could only be described as 'creative combing'; he also wore tiny spectacles with chunky lenses. Large, unkempt eyebrows poked out from above those glasses, and he had a knob-like nose. He wore a simple lab coat, like Dr. Hardy, but it didn't seem to fit him due to his lack of height. And then there was the beard…

It was a miracle that the doctor could actually talk with all that fur covering his mouth. Sporting a classic mustache-beard combo, it was shaggy and bushy and sticking out in every which way. It almost looked like a giant cat, which had just gotten in a fight with another cat. It took all of my strength to keep my eyes off of that beast.

"Hello," He greeted the both of us. I tried to smile in response, but I couldn't muster even a smirk. So, I lifted a weak hand and waved as Dr. Hardy shook his hand firmly.

"Doctor Hilliard, hello."

Leading the dumpy doctor over to Marlin, I felt my stomach squeeze uncomfortably. I hoped and prayed that this guy would be able to help my husband. He peered at him peculiarly, rubbing his buried chin thoughtfully.

"Is this… Marlin?"

Dr. Hardy and I both looked at each other in bewilderment. How did he know his name?

"Yes, how did you-?"

"He was a patient of mine… years ago. I actually directed him to come to this town, to get away from the pollution and all. But I'm guessing it's not any better, huh?"

I stared blankly at the doctor, who had now turned away from us and started a few procedures. I rested my chin on the palm of my hand, staring at Dr. Hilliard shuffle around the cot. My whole world seemed to go in slow motion as I watched the two doctors, living and moving around my comatose husband.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the doctor turned around. Straightening his thick lenses, he glanced at a chart in his hand.

"Well, there is a procedure we can try out. It's arduous, I have to say, but it could work wonders. I have never really seen anything like this, but the procedure can't make it any worse," the doctor began, talking to the both of us, but I knew he was directing this at me, "However safe it is, though, I can't guarantee it will work. The treatment will take a while, and often it causes extreme exhaustion and physical pain."

I winced at those last two words, feeling a lump in my throat. The short doctor gave me a sympathetic look.

"And, well, since Marlin isn't conscious, we have to have a family member make the decision…I know; it's a hard decision to make." He told me genuinely. I pondered this for a few moments. Why did I have to make the decision? Suddenly I felt like I had Marlin's whole state of well being in my hands and I had no idea what to do with it. And then I thought about what he would want, not about my own decision.

I knew Marlin well. Meaning, I knew that he was tough as nails. If he were awake, I would have been pretty sure he wouldn't have hesitated on his decision. He would have the procedure done right there, whatever it may be. He was a trooper, all right.

"Go on with the procedure," I said softly. The doctor nodded in understanding.

"All right. We will get started tomorrow, if you don't mind. It shouldn't take more than a day, but the treatment and recovery take a while."

I felt my heart drop into my stomach.

"Meaning, he won't be home…?" I asked, feeling tears forming deep in their ducts. Dr. Hilliard pursed his lips together uncertainly. As he began to open his mouth to speak, Dr. Hardy leaned forward abruptly, muttering something in his ear. The bearded doctor's face dropped a little, and he looked at me with considerate, bespectacled eyes. I could only guess that Dr. Hardy had told him about the pregnancy.

"We can't be too sure," He said, voice crackling, "He could go home, if he felt up to it after the procedure, but he'd have to stay in bed."

I could feel my whole world crashing around me. Why did this have to happen? Especially now, when I need his support more than anything?

"How long will he be like this? When will he wake up? Why is the treatment going to take so long?" I babbled on and on, asking meaningless questions that wouldn't settle my rattled mind. The doctor calmly gripped my shoulder.

"Calm down, miss. Everything will be fine. There's no telling how long he will be exhausted or sick, but he should wake up within the day. Just take a deep breath," He said this calmly, causing my rigid shoulders to loosen just a tiny bit. I was glad he would at least be awake before this whole procedure underwent. I bit my bottom lip and took a few deep breaths, like the doctor said. He smiled at me.

"Good. I will be back tomorrow. But until then, I'm sure you can take it from here, Dr. Hardy."

The bald doctor nodded at him and opened the wooden door.

"Thank you for your help," Said Dr. Hardy, bowing his head as the ruffled man stepped out, "I have faith in you."

And with that, the door shut, leaving me alone with the doctor and Marlin. I kept breathing deeply, trying to keep myself from breaking down right on the floor. Dr. Hardy stared at me with concern.

"Are you all right? You look pale."

I nodded vigorously, trying to keep it all together, but the tears wouldn't subside. Letting out a struggled sob, I placed my face in my hands and let the tears fall freely. I felt the anxiety build in my throat as I thought of everything that would happen in the next few months. Why couldn't I have just milked the cow this morning? I wasn't in that much pain. Somehow feeling like part of this has been my fault, I felt more cries erupting from my throat.

"Let me get you some water, Jill." The doctor said softly, grabbing a glass and filling it to the brim with water. Handing it to me, I took it with a shaky hand, spilling a few bulky drops before bringing it to my shuddering mouth. After downing the glass in just a few moments, I set it down at my feet and wiped the saline tears from my chin, although more just kept rolling down my cherry cheeks.

Suddenly, my ears perked up at the sound of shuffling to the left of us. I looked over just in time to see Marlin's eyes flutter open cautiously. At first, he looked absolutely blank, as if he had no idea what was happening. His eyes were calm and his jaw relaxed, as if he had just woken up from sleep. And then, he looked panicked. In an instant, his brow was knit and his body was tense. His eyes filled with paranoia, until he turned his head and saw us.

More tears flowed down my face freely; I couldn't stop them if I tried. The doctor stepped closer to the cot, asking the usual questions like 'do you know where you are?' and 'how do you feel?' Marlin answered these questions plus a few others about symptoms, and then the doctor looked at me gravely, as if to tell me that I had to break him the news about the procedure. Nodding towards the cot, he left the house for a few moments.

I approached his bed slowly; my legs were numb with unease. I tried my hardest to smile at him, but I couldn't muster one. I blinked as more droplets slithered down the side of my face. Marlin looked disheveled as he gazed at me. Carefully, I lifted a cold hand and touched his, which was equally cold. He smirked a tiny bit, his eyes an azure color once again. I pursed my lips together harshly.

"I… I'm sorry." He told me, his raspy voice coated with regret.

"Don't be sorry, it wasn't your fault."

"Yeah, but I should have known not to push myself when we have something more than just us to jeopardize."

Squeezing his hand, I nodded and looked away, not sure how to begin about the procedure. Sniffling, I blew a piece of flyaway hair out of my face.

"What is it?" He asked, clearly concerned.

"It's just… there's this procedure."

He looked at me oddly, as if to tell me to continue. Sighing, I faced him once more.

"Dr. Hilliard was here," His face lit up at the name, "And… well, he said there was this procedure that could really help you. It's not exactly proven that it will help, but it can't hurt. And he asked me to make the decision on whether to do it or not." I paused for a moment, scratching the back of my neck, "I said yes."

"What's the problem, then?"

"He said that it's a very exhausting process. Meaning, you'll be extremely tired and fatigued. And he mentioned something about physical pain, you know, as you recover."

Marlin nodded, "I see."

"Are you okay with it?" I asked, hopeful that I didn't make the wrong choice. He looked up at me with a positive glance.

"Of course."

Smiling genuinely, I leaned in to give him a peck on the forehead right as Dr. Hardy reentered the room.

"Marlin, you have a few… visitors."

Celia and Vesta barged into the small house looking unkempt. Celia's eyes were red around the edges and Vesta's usual grin was long gone.

"Oh, Marlin!" Celia cried dramatically, stepping towards the cot with Vesta trailing slowly behind her. I moved out of the way promptly, staring at the doctor who was motioning for me to go towards him.

"Did you tell him?" He asked me quietly, pressing his hands together tightly.

"Yeah, I did." I said, looking behind his shoulder to watch Celia frantically asking questions and crying as Vesta gripped her shoulder. "It went well."

Dr. Hardy nodded thoughtfully.

"Good, we will start tomorrow. Now, I suggest that you get rest tonight. The sun's almost set… you should be leaving soon."

I frowned slightly, still staring at the two women near Marlin's bed. As I stared at the scene, with Celia incoherently prattling, Marlin stared right back at me, barely noticing the other two. I smiled at him, only briefly, in which he returned the favor. Looking down at my stomach, I spread my cold fingers across my belly tentatively, still in disbelief over it all.

As soon as Celia and Vesta left about fifteen minutes later, I said a painful goodbye to my bedridden husband and walked back to the farm, utterly alone. Some of the townspeople stared as I went by, and some even said good evening, but I still couldn't help feeling unaccompanied. Climbing into bed that night was disdainful, especially when I struggled to fall asleep without his arm slung over my stomach protectively.

--

_It was a gray, sullen day in fall. The clouds blanketed the sky in every direction; there was no sign of blue anywhere. I stared into the mirror in my house, feeling my lower lip tremble uncontrollably as I held it in my small hands. A bright azure color, it gleamed brightly in my fingers, so beautiful in comparison to the person wielding it. Carefully zipping it into my pack, I exited the house with one deep breath. I was ready._

_The walk to Vesta's farm was longer than I could have imagined. I stared at the gravelly earth the whole time, not daring to look up and see him. Soon, I heard the calm, babbling brook, knowing that I was close to the farm. As soon as I passed the old, wooden bridge, I felt my heart pump faster than it ever had before._

_Reaching a hand to my heart, I pressed down softly, trying to calm the intense beating. Puckering my lips together harshly, I entered the farm just in time to see Marlin leaning on a pitchfork lazily, looking at the sky. Luckily for me, no one else was around._

_He turned before I could reach him, smiling at me when he saw me approach. Apparently, he didn't see the tremor in my hands and the panicky smile on my lips._

"_Hi Marlin," I greeted him, trying my hardest not to sound jumpy. He didn't notice. Looking at me coolly, he replied, _

"_Hello."_

_At that moment, a gust of wind blew past us, causing goosebumps to slither up my arm uncomfortably. I shivered as a thunderclap sounded in the distance, rumbling deep and low around us._

"_Looks like rain," I stated plainly, staring up at the blurry sky. He nodded slowly. _

_This was it. Now or never. I had to get to him before Celia had the chance to. And who knew when that could be. I gulped and opened my mouth to speak._

"_Marlin?" I asked uneasily._

"_Hm?"_

"_I, uh, I have something for you…"_

_I turned slightly to zip open my backpack and hold the fluffy feather behind my back protectively. I could feel my breath coming out in short puffs as the wind whipped around us again. My throat constricted slightly, my cheeks grew scarlet, and freezing hands clenched and unclenched themselves nervously. _

"_I know I haven't been here long… and I know this may be jumping into things too early, but," I choked out unsteadily, trying to think of where I was going with this. "But I don't care."_

_Marlin's eyes widened as I pulled the feather from behind my back, letting its beauty shine brightly even in the bleary weather. He opened his mouth to say something, but he didn't for a few moments. He just stared at the feather in awe, at a loss for words._

"_I…" He began, and then stopped for a moment, trying to regain composure. I felt my thumb and index finger grip tighter on the feather as my blood pumped vigorously throughout me. I couldn't stand the anxiety any longer, and I was pretty sure I would burst until he opened his mouth and shoved out the only words that made everything perfect._

"_I love you."_

**A/N: All right, I hope you liked that little change in POV! I just wanted to give a little insight on Jill's state of mind at the moment, and all the doctor background stuff. I hope you enjoyed it! By the way, if you didn't catch on before, that last italicized section was a dream that Jill was having, similar to the one that Marlin had in the first dream about the same scene.**


	7. You'll Be Fine

The whiteness surrounding me began to dissipate, slowly but surely. Beneath it was a layer of pure black, peeking through between the spots of white. Soon, it had been dissolved fully, leaving me to a black canvas.

Almost suddenly, I could feel my body again. A tingling sensation surrounded me, shooting through my arms, legs, neck, and face… I wiggled my fingers with as much effort as I could, feeling triumphant. And then came the hearing. I heard shuffling, mumbling, and the choked sound of sobbing coming from somewhere. Finally, my eyelids flickered open, staring at a pale blue ceiling. I shifted my back a tiny bit, rustling the sheets beneath me. Suddenly, I saw Dr. Hardy's stern face towering over the cot. I blinked rapidly.

"Marlin?" He asked me. I grinned at him and he returned the favor. Behind him, I saw Jill with a red face and huge, glazed eyes.

"You know where you are, yes?" He asked me as I averted my gaze back towards him. I nodded.

"Forget-Me-Not Valley." I replied plainly, as he bobbed his head up and down.

"Good. How do you feel? Any aches or pains?"

I did a self-check, making sure there was nothing out of place. I shook my head at him.

"All right, that's great." He said, semi-enthusiastically, before stepping aside so Jill could approach me. I heard a door click shut a few moments later as she reached the cot, resting her hands on the sides. Slowly, she touched her clammy hands against mine, squeezing it gently. She looked ashen as she stared down at me in incredulity, her auburn hair swinging over her shoulder.

"I…. I'm sorry." I told her, feeling a sense of pure ignominy. I had done this to her so many times before… and I could see how horribly it has frazzled her. The usual bright twinkle in her eye was long gone by now, replaced with a dull, unrecognizable hue. The bags under her eyes were gray and profound, and they seemed to be permanently etched into her skin. Her cheeks sunk in, and the usual smile on her face wasn't visible anymore. I missed it.

"Don't be sorry, it wasn't your fault." She responded, still holding onto my hand.

"Yeah, but I should have known not to push myself when we have something more than just us to jeopardize." I told her simply. She nodded at me, her worn facade crinkling like paper before she looked away, blowing a piece of hair away from her face. I could tell she had something on her mind by the way her forehead creased. She was clearly deep in thought.

"What is it?" I asked her. She sighed.

"It's just… there's this procedure."

I frowned a little, waiting for her to go on. But she just sat there, wordlessly contemplating in her head before opening her mouth once more.

"Dr. Hilliard was here," She said. I could feel my eyebrows raise at the name… my old doctor from the city. Although peculiar, he was very proficient, and he was the one who advised me to come to this town. If it weren't for him, who knew where I would be?

"And… well, he said there was this procedure that could really help you. It's not exactly proven that it will help, but it can't hurt. And he asked me to make the decision on whether to do it or not." She paused for a moment, looking into my eyes carefully. She scratched the back of her neck before continuing, "I said yes."

I looked at her quizzically. Why was she so anxious to tell me this?

"What's the problem, then?" I asked her, growing a little apprehensive myself. She gnawed on her bottom lip.

"He said that it's a very exhausting process. Meaning, you'll be extremely tired and fatigued. And he mentioned something about physical pain, you know, as you recover." She said quickly, refusing to look into my eyes by staring out the window.

"I see." I replied, now understanding her uncertainty. I wanted to ask so many questions to her, but I knew she wouldn't comprehend them. I would have to wait for Dr. Hilliard to come back. So I kept my mouth shut, pressing my chapped lips together firmly.

"Are you okay with it?" She asked me, now finally resting her turbulent eyes on my own. I tried my best to look secure.

"Of course." I told her, voice unwavering although my insides were doing somersaults. The procedure almost scared me, but I knew I had to try it out. I had faith in Dr. Hardy and Dr. Hilliard, so what was there to be nervous about? But my doubts persisted.

Jill smiled genuinely as she leaned in to peck my forehead dotingly. Dr. Hardy appeared in the doorway, looking disgruntled.

"Marlin, you have a few… visitors."

Jill straightened up immediately, staring at the door as Celia and Vesta barged through the door. And from the looks of it, they were quite upset. Celia's face was absolutely gray, not a speck of color was left. Her eyes were cherry around the rims, and she was outwardly frowning. She seemed to be literally falling apart at the seams; it was as if nothing but a few pieces of measly tape and a few dabs of glue were keeping her in one piece. On the other hand, Vesta looked the same in appearance, but the way she moved, the way she flinched when she saw me… it was strange.

"Oh, Marlin!" Celia cried, advancing towards me as Jill gingerly stepped out of the way to go talk to Dr. Hardy. She planted her feet right next to my bed, looking down at me as Vesta stood right behind her with her hands planted on Celia's slender shoulders.

"How are you feeling? Are you in pain?" She asked me hurriedly, tucking hair out of her face that had swung over her shoulders.

"No, I'm fine." I told her reassuringly, but she still quivered in her state of shock. Vesta looked at me with blank eyes, as if she wasn't really looking at me at all. It was almost frightening.

"We were so worried! Oh, and you're so pale. Are you okay? When do you go home?" Celia went on, becoming increasingly hard to understand because of her thick, shaking voice. All I could do was nod as she went on asking questions, but I was barely listening anymore. I looked over at Jill across the room and she looked right back at me.

She grinned just slightly, tilting her head to the side as she did so. I returned the favor. We lingered for just a moment, staring at each other intensely until I remembered my visitors. Celia was carefully wiping the tears from her cheeks, closing her eyes as she did so. Vesta took her strong hands off of Celia's shoulders and stepped out from behind her, approaching my cot.

The way that Vesta was acting made me very uneasy. She didn't look or seem like herself at all. Her normal bright red hair was now shabby and tangled. Her eyes were completely empty as I took a better look at her. My own sister… I had never seen her so lifeless.

"I hope you're feeling okay." She muttered quietly, drumming her shaky fingers on the cot.

"I am. Thanks." I replied, trying to get her to look at me but she practically refused, "Vesta, are you okay?"

She looked down at the floor, licking her lips tentatively. Celia now ripped her eyes away from me and stared up at Vesta as well, waiting for an answer.

"All right, everybody, I think Marlin needs his rest. You can all visit in a few days, okay?" Dr. Hardy interrupted, clearly not noticing our conversation. Vesta turned to him and nodded quickly, before giving me a kiss on the cheek and heading out the door. Celia reached down to squeeze my hand in hers before she turned to leave. Then Jill approached me, looking a bit better than she had before.

"I'll be back tomorrow after the procedure. You'll probably be asleep, but… just know I'll be here with you, okay?"

I smiled at her as she placed her cold hand on my cheek and leaned in to give me a kiss. Her lips shook on mine as she lingered for a second, and then pulled away. One last wave and she was out the door, leaving Dr. Hardy and I to be alone.

"Is it all right if I ask you some questions, doctor?"

He turned to me and nodded earnestly before approaching the bed and grabbing his chart.

"What would you like to know, Marlin?"

I exhaled slowly, searching through the millions of questions swarming in my head.

"What are you specifically going to do?" I inquired quietly, clasping my hands together and twiddling my thumbs nervously. He paused for a moment, creasing and relaxing his forehead until he finally opened his mouth to speak.

"Well, I have to be honest about this all, so it won't sound very pretty. We are going to have to replenish the protein product that is missing in your lungs. It's an injection; it will knock you out for a while and will be quite painful when you're awake. After that, we start inhalation treatment to help you breath easier. We need to do the injection once every few days until it's completely replenished, and the inhalation treatment might take a while… It's a repetitive process but it's for the better."

I gulped, feeling a lump rise in my throat as he explained this process. Truly, I was frightened. But I had to at least try it out. There was so much more to risk, especially with a child on the way now… how could I refuse this treatment? I had to stay strong. At least, in front of Jill. I had caused her so much stress, and showing my uncertainty about it all would just worsen the situation.

"I can see you're worried." Dr. Hardy observed. I gave him a crooked smile, trying my best to hide my concern but he just laughed. "It's perfectly normal to be scared."

I sighed, laying my head on the fluffy, white pillow behind me.

"Yeah, but… she's counting on me. What if something goes wrong?"

Dr. Hardy let out an elongated breath and scratched his neck.

"Nothing will go wrong," He assured me, "Please trust me on this. Jill… she's just a little traumatized right now, and we can't blame her. But no matter what happens, if the procedure works or if it doesn't, she'll be okay. And you'll be okay."

The way he said this so confidently and comforting, it made me feel a little better. For the time being.

"I guess you're right." I stated, casting my eyes downwards. He grunted in response.

"Just keep that in mind."

I nodded and looked out the window that was close to me, watching as the tip of the sun gradually disappeared behind a mountain in the distance. The oranges and reds seeped into the room and filled my cot with a plethora of beautiful hues. I could see the radiant white snow forming in the corners of the window, and I longed to touch it. I longed to run outside and be able to taste a sugary snowflake on my tongue. I longed to do so many things that I was banned from doing now… and somehow that gave me the strength to be confident in this procedure. I was ready to be normal again, or at least try.

I stared out that window until the sun had completely set, and the moon began to rise high in the sky. I had been knocked out for a while, yet for some reason I felt my eyes droop with exhaustion. All of the worry and stress must have made me tired. So gradually, I fell into a deep sleep.

I awoke in the morning, before the sun had the chance to come up. It was probably about six or seven in the morning, but Dr. Hilliard was already here. He looked the exact same as I remembered him… short, eccentric, and with a beard that covered up half of his face and neck. He was a character, all right.

"Marlin! It's nice to see you… well, it's nice to see you awake." Dr. Hilliard greeted me, chuckling a little as he did so. I smirked at him as he approached me to shake my hand with vigor.

"It's nice to see you, as well."

"Now, I suppose Dr. Hardy has told you what is going to happen during this procedure, right?" He asked, scratching his enclosed chin. Or maybe he was scratching his jaw? One couldn't tell; his hand was practically wrist-deep in his gray beard.

"Yes, he has."

"Good, good. We want to get started right away. We know you want to see your wife after the procedure… although you will be groggy. I heard about the pregnancy, by the way. Congratulations."

I felt a lump rise in my throat as I tried to grin. Seeing my anxious reaction, he grasped my shoulder tightly in his small hand.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine."

I had heard these words already by Dr. Hardy just last night, yet it still hadn't completely sunk in. I clenched my fists together in anxiousness as the doctor's spoke to each other in hushed tones on the opposite side of the room. I could feel beads of sweat form on my palms and brow as I saw Dr. Hilliard grab a pair of gloves and a jagged, shiny object from the medicine counter. It was a needle.

I gulped uncertainly, hoping that it wouldn't be as painful as it looked. But it was doubtful. The tip was sharp and longer than I expected. I had never liked needles. Something about being practically stabbed with a pointy object was not very appealing to me.

"All right, Marlin. Let's get this over with. Do you want me to count down or…?"

"No… no. That's all right."

He shrugged and approached me with Dr. Hardy behind him, eyeing me carefully. Dr. Hardy grabbed a white cloth off of the medicine counter and doused it in a substance before he carefully lifted the hospital gown I had on and placed the cloth on my thigh. I felt my face grow scarlet but I ignored the embarrassment. Slowly, Dr. Hilliard approached my leg with the needle and I had to look away. At first, there wasn't a huge pain, but as I felt the needle ascend deeper into my leg, I clenched my fist muscles even tighter.

I didn't have time to register anything else. After a while, I could barely feel my leg anymore. And after that, everything else seemed to grow numb as well. First my legs, then my torso and arms, and finally I could barely feel my own face. The last thing I saw before my eyes fluttered to a close were the two doctors, looking concentrated as they discussed something I couldn't hear.

As my world encased itself under a black veil, the only thing I could focus on was the sound of my breathing, deep and heavy as I drifted into a state of unconsciousness.

--

"_Marlin? Are you awake?"_

_I felt my eyelids flicker open and I was face to face with my beautiful wife, Jill. She smiles widely at me when she sees I'm awake, and gives me a kiss on the cheek. A smell wafts from next to me, and I turn my head to see a breakfast plate with my favorite foods: sunny side up eggs, hash browns, and a glass of ice-cold milk. _

"_How are you feeling this morning?" She asked me, putting the plate of breakfast on my stomach. _

"_I'm fine," I responded, grabbing the fork and spooning a mouthful of potatoes into my mouth. She grinned._

"_Good!"_

_From behind her, I heard padding footsteps. I furrowed my brow, wondering what that noise was, until my question answered itself. From behind Jill, a tiny hand grasped her jeans and tugged._

"_Mommy! Pick me up!" Said a small voice. She laughed melodically and grabbed the child, picking him up and hoisting him onto her waist. I stared in awe at the two. It was my son. My own son._

_His eyes were huge, cerulean orbs that stared up at Jill in delight. He had tiny hands and tiny feet with little socks on them. He smiled a toothless smile and bit one of his fingers as Jill snuggled him. I could feel tears forming in my own eyes I looked at him. _

"_Say good morning to daddy, Aiden!" Jill exclaimed, turning slightly so the boy could face me. He laughed, sticking both of his hands in his mouth and smiling._

"_Da!" He shrieked, reaching his spit-covered hands for me. I felt an overwhelming sense of pride build up in me. I pushed my breakfast plate onto the side table next to me and tried to stand so I could hold my baby boy. But something was wrong…_

_My legs wouldn't budge. I sat up in the bed and tried my hardest to move them but they were heavy as rocks. I touched them with trembling fingers, but I couldn't feel a thing._

"_Marlin, what are you doing?" Jill asked me, but I didn't respond. I knew something was weird when Jill brought me breakfast in bed. I felt my breath grow shallow as I gripped the bed sheets in my tremulous hands. I was paralyzed._

_There, in the corner of the room, was a rusty wheelchair. How had I not noticed this before? I heard Aiden coo and giggle amidst my panic and my wife's confusion. Brackish tears stung my eyes and threatened to spill over but I willed them not to._

"_I… I'm…" I began, but I couldn't choke the word out. My tongue swelled in my mouth as I contemplated what could have happened. Was it the procedure…? _

"_Are you okay?" She asked, her voice alarmed. I didn't answer her. I couldn't even look at her. All I could do was stare at our child, so aloof to everything that was going on around him. I would never get to run around with him, or help him water plants when he's old enough. I will never be able to feel his tiny hands tugging at my own pant leg. _

_All of these sudden realizations made me woozy. My shallow breathing became worse, and soon I couldn't feel anything at all. I blacked out._

--

"_He just stirred a little, he might wake up in a few moments."_

…The first thing I felt was a jolt. Not a painful one, but a very subtle nudge back into reality.

"_Are you sure he's okay? Did anything go wrong?"_

…At first, the voices were muffled. They became clearer and clearer with every syllable sounded out, almost like I was turning the volume up on a radio very slowly.

"From the looks of it, no. When he wakes… well, we'll just have to see."

…And then I felt it. The pain.

"_I… ah, all right."_

…At first, it started in one tiny spot on my leg. And then it spread like wildfire up and down both of my legs, and then to my stomach and arms.

"_Don't worry, Jill. Everything will be just fine."_

…The pain wasn't anything like I had experienced before. It was a smoldering commotion that ripped through my body and left me longing to dig my fingernails into the sheets beside me.

"_How do you know?"_

…But I still couldn't move. I felt like screaming, or maybe just letting out a cry for help. Was something wrong?

"_Well, miss, you are his wife. You of all of us should know how tough he is."_

…I felt like I was throbbing and pulsating throughout my appendages. The sweltering sensation intensified in my lungs as if I took a stick of blazing fire and stuck it down my throat like the magicians.

"_Yeah. I guess you're right."_

…Another jolt, and I could move again. I wiggled my toes and fingers exultantly even as the pain still persisted.

"_Shh… looks like he's waking up."_

I licked my lips tentatively and peeled open my eyelids with as much effort as I could stand. My vision was indistinct for a few moments, until I blinked a few times to find the two doctors staring down at me happily. I hadn't noticed that I was still wiggling my toes, realizing that the dream I had wasn't a reality.

"Well, hello! How are you feeling?" Dr. Hilliard asked me. I squinted my eyes several times and tried to force words out of my mouth but they only came out as 'mrrnffh'.

"In pain, I assume." He said plainly, as if he could read my mind. I nodded very slightly before staring back up at the ceiling. The pallid blue wallpaper seemed to shift and sway all around me and I felt the urge to empty the contents of my stomach. The flaming feeling persisted even as I tightened my fists together with as much energy as I had. Which wasn't a lot. Behind the doctors was Jill, rubbing her hands together in worry.

"Is he okay?" She asked. They scratched their foreheads simultaneously as they examined me and the prick in my leg.

"Seems to be fine, but we will need to run tests later to check the protein replenishment in his lungs and see if it worked." Dr. Hardy told her, staring at a chart as he did so. She stared at me in awe, and I wanted so bad to smile at her but I couldn't muster more than a painful smirk.

I tried to move a little from my uncomfortable position on the cot but it was very arduous. My sweat-drenched hospital gown stuck to my back and chest as I wiggled on the cot. Dr. Hardy put a hand on my shoulder and gently said, "Don't try to move right now, Marlin. Just relax."

I took a deep breath and stayed where I was although it was unbearable. The pain hadn't subsided, but for some reason I was feeling sleepy once again. Jill took a step forward and touched my burning flesh with her bitter, calloused hands. She looked down at me with an odd grin on her face, almost as if she believed that everything would be okay.

"You're doing great, Marlin." She said as I felt my eyelids droop in exhaustion, "You're going to be just fine."

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm so sorry this took forever to write… I had a lot of things going on. But now I hope to be reviewing more regularly! I hope you liked this chapter. Review and let me know!**


	8. Parents Day

**A/N: Hey all! Sorry it took a little while to update, I had a ton of studying to do for finals. I hope you enjoy!**

I woke when I felt a sharp ache prodding at my ribcage. I ripped my eyelids open and looked around, noticing that it was probably the wee hours of the morning. Dr. Hilliard and Dr. Hardy were sitting nearby, asleep in their chairs. Grasping at my ribcage, I tried my best to keep my breathing steady but to no avail. I squeezed my eyes shut when I felt another wave of pain come over me. How was I supposed to live like this? I had already woken up twice during the night; once for the same burning sensation igniting my insides, and the second time because I was having cramps in my legs and arms. I prayed that this wasn't how I would spend every night.

As the pain persisted, I felt the dire need to retch. Despite the throbbing, I turned over onto my side and gagged excruciatingly. I grasped at my burning throat with my hands and coughed hoarsely, but nothing came out. Dr. Hardy shook his head a little and opened his eye, mumbling a few slurs of incoherent speech. When he saw me, he jumped and ran to my side, touching my shoulder.

"Marlin? What's wrong?" He asked urgently as Dr. Hilliard stirred from his sleep as well. I grimaced in pain and pointed to my ribs cage area. I heaved once more as he continued to ask me questions I couldn't hear. I sputtered and wheezed until I felt the doctor's push me onto my back once more and pour a vile-tasting liquid down my throat. Squirming and almost choking on the fluid, I felt a wave of panic come over me when I contemplated if this was the end or not.

But there was no time to even worry, for the liquid they emptied into my mouth soon gave me a warm feeling inside of my stomach as it almost instantly put me to sleep.

For once, I awoke in a state of comfortableness. No pains or aches, except for a dull burning feeling coursing throughout my body. For a second, I didn't even remember my little episode last night until my memory came flooding back to me. I didn't feel pain because the area surrounding my ribcage was anesthetized. The doctor's gave me a grim look when I woke.

"Good morning, Marlin." Dr. Hilliard said gravely. I felt that same panicked emotion as a cold sweat broke out on my forehead. Was I going to be okay?

"We have good news, and bad news." Dr. Hardy began, staring blankly at a chart. "The good news: the injection replenished a fraction of the protein that's missing. Not a huge fraction, but we're just relieved that it's working. Bad news: Your body shouldn't have reacted the way it did last night. The burning feeling is normal, and so are the cramps, but any sharp pains or aches, especially in the upper torso area, are not common and aren't supposed to happen."

I touched my rib as he said this, feeling a tiny tender spot amidst the numbness.

"Let's just say… it's a good thing we gave you the medicine when we did." Dr. Hilliard added on, giving me a concerned gaze. I didn't like the somber look engraved into his features as he spoke to me, so I looked away as I said,

"Thanks, doctor."

They both nodded in response and went back to their charts, filling the room with a hefty silence that made me uncomfortable. As the words sunk into my mind like quicksand, I closed my eyes and decided to rest.

The doctors were definitely not lying when they said I would be exhausted. I slept for almost all of the day, and when I was awake, all I wanted to do was sleep. For some reason, I felt very elderly. My bones and muscles ached, I couldn't get out of bed, and it seemed like I was disintegrating before the eyes of my loved ones. It was definitely not a pleasant feeling.

And at the same time, I almost felt like I was being chased. Chased by my own destructive disease. Every action I made, every step I took… I had to be cautious. I was always peeking behind my shoulder, making sure that it wouldn't creep up behind me like a childhood monster and leave me breathless. I couldn't even do my own job without being wary of the outcome. And for that, I felt helpless. In my hospital bed, I was so vulnerable to everyone else, and I strongly disliked that feeling.

Exhaustion aside, I had to start inhalation treatment. The whole process was very new to me, for I had never had any treatment aside from what happened just last night. And thankfully, there was no pain involved with the treatment.

The antibiotic system is small, resembling a pen, and uses an existing spring-loaded device to distribute the drugs when I inhale through it. The feeling is very hard to explain, almost like millions of cold dust particles are swimming down my throat and expanding it. The first few days I went through the treatment, I coughed and sputtered horrendously, but after a while, it became normal. About an hour after that, I went through what the doctor's called 'down time', where my eyelids hung low and my speech slurred uncontrollably. I was still fully conscious, but I just felt completely sluggish.

Between the protein replenishment and the inhalation treatment, I still had some visitors. My friends from the Blue Bar came often to chat with me as if we were sitting on those bar stools, swiveling around the contents of our drinks and leaning our chins on our hands.

"Marlin, how are you?" Griffin had asked me the day he came to visit one cold winter day. Muffy hung around behind him, her thin arms behind her back as she tried her best to smile.

"I'm doing better." I said, my voice sounding thick with ache. Not long ago, I had woken up from a post-replenishment nap and I was still in a little pain.

"Good to hear. Hey, listen, I wrote this new song and I was wondering if you would like to hear it?" Griffin asked, pinching the ends of his mustache carefully. I nodded as enthusiastically as I could. I loved hearing the endless plucking on that guitar; it was so smooth and easygoing. Smiling at me, he walked towards the front door where he had set his ratty guitar case down. Pulling out the instrument, he tweaked the tuners a little bit before he began.

The tune was very simple, but powerful in its own unique way. For a moment, the pain that pulsed throughout my muscles became unnoticeable, and all I could focus on was the soft music that flowed through the air. Muffy began to hum along quietly behind him, staring at the floor as she did so. He continued to pluck and strum for a while, until finally he ended the song on a beautiful and everlasting high note. I clapped with all of the strength I could muster.

"That was great." I garbled. He grinned genuinely.

"Thank you very much. I spent a lot of time on that one."

Muffy nodded from behind him, but she still hadn't really said anything to me since she came in. When I stared at her, I saw a little bit of Jill in her nervous demeanor and clear uncomfortable stance. She kept looking at the ground intently as if something incredibly interesting was held in the ashen stone flooring. And then she would tuck and untuck her hair obsessively, along with rapid blinking of the eyes. Every time she happened to look at me, she almost winced. It was all too familiar.

"We better get going, though. I'm sure you're tired…" Griffin said slowly, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"When am I not tired?" I asked, laughing without any humor. Muffy chuckled politely.

"We'll make sure to visit again." He promised, heading for the door with his guitar in hand. Muffy turned to leave as well, but then she stopped and whirled around on one foot. She approached the cot with caution.

"Get better, okay? We miss having you at the bar." She told me, speaking for the both of them even as Griffin was already out the door. I nodded at her and she smiled legitimately for the first time that day. And with a quick wave, she was out the door.

Gustafa visited somewhat often as well. Always smiling sanguinely, he would always tell me to hope for the best. Yeah, the guy was kind of a nut when it came to philosophies, but he had a lot of valuable advice to give. Often, he would come over when I was almost completely knocked out from inhalation treatment. But he would stay in spite of my condition. He would talk normally, knowing that I was listening even if it didn't seem like it, and he would always tell me that things would be okay. It was a pleasant feeling.

And then, when Winter was almost at it's end, I got a surprise visit from two people.

Two particular people that I hadn't seen in over ten years.

"Marlin!" Came a shrill voice one snow-white afternoon. The voice belonged to a head of gray hair (still with a tint of fading red in it) that was carelessly thrown into a bun. It was scratchy and sounded very weary, but it was a voice I would recognize anywhere.

And then came a grunt from someone else. He stood a little farther back than she with a hand on his chin and a scowl on his face. The jet-black hair that I remembered from before had turned to a dark gray tint, but his face remained almost the same. Wrinkles adorned his face like tinsel on a tree; one could clearly tell he did a lot of frowning in his lifetime.

These people were my parents.

I opened my mouth to speak but there were absolutely no words that could express my shock. I hadn't seen them since I moved out ten years ago, and we stopped sending letters at least eight years ago. And here they were, staring down at me as if I was a young child again waiting to be tucked in for bed.

"Oh, Marlin… you look so pale! Are you okay?" My mother asked me, inches away from my face.

"Of course he's not okay, Deirdre. He's sick, for God's sakes, did you forget why we came here?" My father said bitterly. I frowned outwardly; remembering the days when their marriage contained less 'I love you's and more 'go to Hell's (often accompanied with door slamming).

"Shut up, Theodore." She muttered under her breath before returning to her regular self. She smiled brightly, her teeth shining down at me.

"We heard about what happened and we had to come down," She began, tucking a piece of hair that had fallen out of her bun behind her ear. "I was so worried."

Slowly, my father approached the cot as well, shoving his hands in his suspender pockets. He glanced around the house with a look of aversion on his face.

"This town is… awfully small." He said simply. My father was definitely a big city type of guy. He was a painter (not a very good one, at that), and one would think that would influence him to move to a small town. But he opposed to the idea. He mostly painted portraits of people, and when he wasn't doing that, he loved to paint the city scenery. Sure, people bought his paintings, but it was a rare occurrence.

Ever since I was at least ten years old, my mother would tell my father to invest his time into something that could earn us more money, or at least put a stable roof over our heads. But he refused. I could tell that I inherited my stubborn attitude from him; he was always scowling and trying to make things work out for himself without anyone else's advice or charity. Of course, the way she nagged him made him almost insane. By the time Vesta was about a year from graduating high school, they were bickering every day about something completely irrelevant. I was thirteen at the time and completely naïve to what was happening. So, while my parents quarreled back and forth about what was for dinner, Vesta and I would stay locked in our room, lit only by candlelight, and she would read me stories from the various books we had on the bookshelf. It was almost like she was more of a mother than my own had been. And as for my father… well, he didn't have a strong interest in kids.

"What are you doing for Christmas? Anything fun with your wife? Oh, I'm so excited to meet her." My mother asked me, ripping me away from my childhood memories.

"Um," I began, my voice thick with strain, "We don't celebrate Christmas here."

I had almost forgotten about the holiday, to be truthful. Ever since I started to live in the city a while ago, I had stopped celebrating Christmas. Who would I celebrate it with, anyways? I had no friends and I lived by myself… I was pretty content with forgetting about it altogether. It had never really been a huge holiday in my house, anyways. It always ended in yelling and/or tears.

"What kind of place is this? You don't celebrate Christmas?" My father asked accusingly. I was about to roll my eyes as if I was a teenager again but stopped myself. After all, it did sound sort of odd to people who didn't live here.

"Theodore, don't talk to your son like that. He's obviously not in a state to be questioned like this." My mother scolded him. Now it was his turn to roll his eyes.

As I felt the smoldering sensation ignite again inside of me, I felt another feeling as well. Anger.

Why hadn't they come to visit earlier? It was the first time they had ever been to Forget-Me-Not Valley, and yet I had been living here for four years and Vesta for seven. They never visited or sent letters for my birthday, or for any other holiday for that matter. It was infuriating. Now that I was practically on my deathbed, it was acceptable for them to visit after all of these years?

"Why are you here, anyways?" I inquired, glowering up at them. My mother almost looked caught off-guard, and her smile slowly melted from her face. My father's expression stayed the exact same; his face was hard and stern and he tightly clenched his arms over his chest.

"W-what do you mean, son?" She asked, looking hurt.

"Now that you learn I'm very sick, you decide to drop by for a visit?"

They both stared in awe at me, as if they had just heard me talk for the first time.

"What about when I moved to this village? Do you even know why I came here…? I was working on painting a two-story house in the city when my knees locked up and I _fell _off of a ladder. Where were you then? Where were you when they forced me to move here?" I asked, my voice growing louder by the minute. I felt my lips curl as they stood in a silence for a few moments.

"Or what about when I got married? Did you even know that Jill is pregnant?"

Their jaws dropped in unison but they quickly pulled them back up. I scowled angrily in their direction.

"I'm sorry, honey. We really tried, but… it was just difficult."

"Bullshit…" My father mumbled under his breath. My mother shot him a death look and opened her mouth to yell when the door pushed open, revealing Jill.

"I, uh… I can come back later?" She said, looking wary. Instantly, the smile was plastered right back to my mother's face as she practically squealed at Jill.

"Oh, Jill! I'm so glad to meet you!"

Jill smiled crookedly before being wrapped in a gigantic hug.

"I'm Deirdre, Marlin's mother." She said kindly, still gripping Jill's shoulder, "And this is Theodore, his father."

Jill turned towards my dad and shook his hand politely. He barely even smirked in her direction.

For a moment, the room was filled with an impenetrable silence. Jill stood awkwardly in between my parents and I, looking a little confused.

"So, um, what's the occasion?" She asked, taking off her farming gloves and setting them on a nearby table.

"Well, we were going to spend Christmas here, but we had no idea that you didn't celebrate it here!" My mother said cheerfully, although there was a slight bitterness in her tone. My father grunted in concurrence.

"Oh, yeah. That was a big change for me, as well." She commented. Again, the room was still, and the only sound to be heard was my dad shoving his hands into his suspender pockets again.

"Does Vesta know you're here?" I asked suddenly, almost forgetting about my sister.

"No, your mother insisted that we come here first." My father said in a hoarse voice. My mother grimaced.

"But we're going to visit her next, of course."

I nodded, remembering that they hadn't spoken to her in an even longer time span than I. She moved out as soon as she graduated, leaving me alone with my squabbling parents. I didn't blame her, though. She was going to go to college and finally do something with her life, but my parents were only bringing her down with them. They were in the midst of a divorce when she left, but she wasn't sticking around to see the messy ending. As far as I knew, that was the last time they spoke.

"So, Jill. We heard about your good news!" My mother squealed, pulling her into another uncomfortable hug. Jill laughed uncomfortably.

"Yes, it came as quite a surprise, but we're both pleased."

"Well, how are you going to raise a kid in these conditions?" My father asked. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"We just found out, there will be plenty of time for me to recover by then." I replied matter-of-factly, even if I wasn't too sure of this myself.

"And if you don't?"

"Theodore!" My mother scolded as I felt a pang in my chest. I looked over at Jill and I could tell she felt it too. It was tough being in this situation, and who was my father to make me feel worse?

"You are in no position to-" I began, but the conversation was again interrupted by a visitor. The door creaked open leisurely, revealing someone that I'm sure my parents weren't very happy to see. Vesta.

"Mom? Dad…?"

**A/N: I know this is kind of abrupt, but I had to end it somewhere. I know that his parents coming in was kind of a twist but I had an idea for it so don't worry! Anyways, review please!**


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